The Spaniards had no
answer for the goal-hungry
Pole, who was a one-man
wrecking ball as Jurgen
Klopp's charges inflicted a
painful defeat on the visitors

A sensational
exhibition of
goalscoring from
Robert
Lewandowski
drove Borussia Dortmund to a dominant win in
the first leg of
their Champions League semi-final, as they
destroyed Real Madrid 4-1 at home to put one foot into the
tournament's final. The Poland
star was on target for all four of
his side's goals as they overcame
the Blancos, whose only
consolation was an away goal courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo
that gives them the faintest of
hopes for the return. Looking to follow the example of
compatriots Bayern Munich after
the Bavarians destroyed
Barcelona the previous evening,
Dortmund came out in a bullish
fashion and almost took the lead in the first few minutes. Marco
Reus picked up the ball on the
halfway line and embarked on a
brilliant run, weaving past several
Madrid markers before squaring
up to Diego Lopez in goal. The keeper did well to parry the shot,
and Robert Lewandowski found
himself on the wrong side of the
rebound and could not convert. If the Poland international was
irritated with himself at letting
the chance slip away, he made
instant amends. A fluid move from
the home side ended at the feet
of Mario Gotze, and the young forward looped a cross into the
area.Lewandowski reacted before anyone in a white shirt,
muscling his way between the
Merengue defence and diving in
to steer home and put his team
in the ascendancy after just eight
minutes. The goal was no less than BVB
deserved for an all-action start
to the clash, as they harried
their rivals across the park and
gave them barely a second to
breathe. As the half progressed, Madrid started to gain a foothold
and enjoy more possession,
although clear chances were at a
premium. It was from dead balls
that they looked most dangerous.
Several deep crosses required strong defensive action from the
Germans, while Cristiano Ronaldo
went closest to troubling the
scorers with a long-range free
kick that was parried away by
Roman Weidenfeller. Just as the Spanish side looked
certain to enter the break one
down, two big incidents changed
the course of the half. A clumsy
challenge from Rafael Varane on
Reus as the forward escaped into the box provoked desperate calls
for a penalty, shouts that fell on
death ears as the referee
refused to oblige. Almost without
pause, Madrid took their chance
to strike. A direct counter looked to be
straightforward for Mats
Hummels, but an attempted back-
pass from the defender was well
short and seized upon by Gonzalo
Higuain. The Argentine could have gone alone behind the backline,
but instead chose to square
perfectly forRonaldo who stroked into the empty net to
level the game minutes before
half time. Dortmund could have panicked
after seeing their lead evaporate,
but instead they opted to start
the second period in exactly the
same fashion as the first. With
just four minutes played after the break, Reus picked up a
header on the edge of the box
and threaded through to Lewandowski. Madrid's defence screamed offside, but it was
inattenion from Varane that led
to the striker being left all alone,
and he made no mistake in
punishing the error as he
slammed past Lopez for his and BVB's second.
The Bundesliga's top scorer was in
no mood to slow down. With
Madrid still reeling from that early
blow, Marcel Schmelzer picked up
a loose ball on the edge of the
area and hit with venom towards goal. The shot took a deflection
and fell perfectly for Lewandowski, who executed a marvellous turn and shot into the
roof of the net to seal his hat-
trick, put his team two up, and in
control of the tie. The consolation for Madrid is that
it could have been even worse.
Ilkay Gundogan left his marker
standing with a silky turn and
shaped towards goal, launching a
stinging effort from the left. The ball looked destined to end in the
top corner if not for the
intervention of Lopez, who pulled
off a stunning fingertip save to
avoid a fourth and further
humiliation for Jose Mourinho's charges. The goalkeeper was let
down, however, by some
boneheaded play from those in
front of him. Madrid were resigning themselves
to chasing a two-goal deficit in
the Bernabeu, albeit with an
away strike, when an idiotic
shove from Xabi Alonso on Reus
led to a penalty. Who else was going to step up:Lewandowski prepared calmly and blasted past
Lopez for his fourth, to cap an
exceptional display for both the
striker and Dortmund, who held
on to record an impressive win
over the Spaniards. The Merengue were left bruised
after a convincing defeat, but will
still hope to turn round the
fixture thanks to Ronaldo's away
goal. The second leg will be played
in the Santiago Bernabeu, on April 30.

The Polish striker left the Madrid
defence flailing at almost every
turn as he took his big chance in
front of the eyes of the world to
show that he has the finishing
ability at the top level that many had previously doubted he
possessed. With four goals, some
of them out of the very top
drawer, Lewandowski made sure
that his name will be on the lips
of the most powerful wheelers and dealers in this summer's
transfer market, and not just the
likes of Bayern Munich and
Manchester United. Jose
Mourinho's side were simply left
begging for mercy, having been subjected to a thorough
examination throughout.

Borussia Dortmund celebrate with their fans after the 4-1 win over Real Madrid

More Than A Game

Dortmund dominated Madrid from start to finish on Wednesday night.

Klopp hails 'unbelievable' Dortmund

Robert Lewandowski scored four goals against Real Madrid

What is happening to big clubs these time around, imagine almighty Realmadrid fall just like that? Just like Barca. What is happening? 

power shift from spain to Germany.

The shift is too sudden, it would be better to shift one by one, not just like this.
We're accustomed to big teams not teams and players, I these teams need to do something faster.
Are you still with Man u?

What is occurring to big groups these time around, think about almighty Realmadrid drop just like that? Just like Barca. What is happening? 

Quote from: andrewlogan09 on 2013-05-27 15:51
What is occurring to big groups these time around, think about almighty Realmadrid drop just like that? Just like Barca. What is happening? 

Quote from: Prince james C. Inyogu on 2013-04-26 08:02
power shift from spain to Germany.

I think this answered this question to an extent, the question is why and what are the factors that are driving this shift?