It was not the first half that Dortmund and their supporters were expecting as Malaga took advantage of some poor play by the Dortmund midfield and grabbed a precious away goal, taking a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Malaga, 2013 UEFA Champions League: Halftime score 1-1, Joaquín stuns the Westfalenstadion but BVB responds
A goal from Malaga’s Joaquín midway through the first half gave the vistiors a key away goal but Dortmund were able to even the match thanks to a bit of magical passing from Marco Reus and skillful finish from Robert Lewandowski.
Dortmund started a bit nervy, trying to do too much to quickly while Malaga were there usual compact and organized selves, making life difficult in the midfield for Dortmund. It took nearly 16 minutes for the home side to generate their first good chance but it nearly yielded the opener.
Robert Lewandowski had the ball in space, roughly 25-yards from the Malaga goal and spotted Wilfredo Caballero cheating off his line a bit. The Polish striker launched an ambitious chip that beat the keeper but sailed over the crossbar and out of danger.
All that perceived control of the match came crashing down in the 22nd minute.
A long ball into the Dortmund end wasn't dealt with well by the defense and Julio Baptista was able to control it and find Joaquín at the top of the box. The midfielder played a nice one-two with Isco before abusing Marcel Schmelzer with a wicked cut back and placing a low shot past Roman Weidenfeller at the near post.
From there Dortmund seemed a bit punch drunk and it took them a few minutes to settle back from from the shock of the goal. Malaga continued to not have much of the ball but it really didn’t matter, both because of the goal and the fact that there were efficiently shutting down Dortmund’s attacking attempts on a consistent basis.
Then in the 38th minute, Dortmund’s dangerous attack finally clicked. It started with a turnover in the midfield as the ball was moved to the right to Mario Götze. The midfielder’s centering cross was directed forward thanks to a sick back heel pass from Marco Reus that found Lewandowski who flicked his shot past an advancing Caballero to pull BVB even at 1-1.
On the final kick of the half, Joaquín caught the Dortmund defense sleeping and was able to to get a clean header on frame off Duda’s free kick. Weidenfeller was all over it though and made a fine save to prevent Malaga for claiming a second goal.
Dortmund still need another goal but they’ll be feeling much better about things having not gone into the break down.
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