Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund: Halftime score 0-0, Madrid should have scored but couldn’t break through Weidenfeller
It’s scoreless after 45 minutes at the Santiago Bernabéu. It shouldn’t be scoreless but Madrid had their chances to score in the first half and didn’t take them. So Dortmund are happy.
Borussia Dortmund will be the happier side after a scoreless first half at the Santiago Bernabéu. Real Madrid had plenty of chances to get a goal during a furious opening 15 minutes but a combination of wasted chances and superb goalkeeping from Roman Weidenfeller has BVB still comfortably ahead.
Gonzalo Higuaín got an early chance in the 5th minute after getting behind the Dortmund defense on a short ball after Marcel Schmelzer got caught out of position on the ball. Higuain’s first touch was light and forced the striker to make a second touch that gave Roman Weidenfeller the time he needed to close down and block the shot with his feet.
Madrid's borderline absurd pressure continued in the 13th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo got behind the defense in the box and chested down a long ball from Sergio Ramos. Ronaldo expertly spun and volleyed a shot on frame but Weidenfeller was again the man on the spot, making a fine save.
Two minutes later Mesut Òzil broke free on the right side and dragged his shot just wide of the post.
Things got even more disconcerting for Dortmund as their star midfiedler Mario Götze was forced off the pitch in the 14th minute with an apparent hamstring injury. Kevin Grosskreutz replaced him with little hesitation from Jürgen Klopp.
Dortmund did settle after the frantic start though managing to slow the tempo of the game down considerably and generating a couple good chances of their own. More importantly they were able to start holding on to the ball and put some passes together, something Dortmund failed to do early. The increased time on the ball took away some of Madrid’s momentum and allowed BVB to breath.
Another positive for BVB as the half wound down. Dortmund were able to get Özil and Luka Modric under control and take away the space the two had been running wild in early in the half.
So your story of the first half was that there should have been goals, lots of goal, but there were no goals. Thus Dortmund are happy and 45 minutes away from a trip to Wembley Stadium.
