3 things we learned from Borussia Dortmund beating Bayern Munich in the DFB-Pokal semifinal on penalties

It took 90 minutes of regulation, 30 minutes of extra time and seven penalties, but finally it was Borussia Dortmund celebrating the win and heading for the DFB-Pokal final after holding Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw in regulation and winning the penalty shootout, 2-0.

Things started off very even, with Bayern dominating possession and Dortmund doing well in defense and lashing out on the counter attack. That’s more or less how the match went early on, with chances for both clubs but nothing quite coming off right -- then Shinji Kagawa made a mistake.

A terribly misplaced pass from the Japanese playmaker saw Bayern regain possession while Dortmund were stretched way out on a counter, and that quickly turned into Robert Lewandowski running behind BVB’s defense to get on the end of a long ball over the top. Once he latched on to it, the Polish striker had only goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak to beat, and beat him he did -- but his shot rang off the crossbar. Not to be deterred, Lewandowski scrambled to get on to the rebound, taking a shot from a tight angle that caught Langerak too far off his line and with none of Dortmund’s defenders rushing back were close enough to clear it away before his shot trickled past the goal line.

Bayern started to strangle and control the match from there, with Dortmund struggling to get clean chances to threaten Manuel Neuer in goal. Bayern had the better of the chances for much of the rest of the match, with Lewandowski again hitting the crossbar in the second half after beating Langerak, and Thomas Müller getting denied by a clear handball from Marcel Schmelzer that went uncalled in the penalty area. It started to look inevitable that Bayern would win ... and then Dortmund scored.

Finding rare penetration into the Bayern penalty area, substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan got in behind the defense with the ball at his feet, and instead of shooting at a very-ready Neuer, he sent in a low cross to the far post. The cross led Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s run a little too far, but the Gabon forward pushed for an extra stride and slid desperately to get a touch on the ball. He did, and the resulting scuffed shot caught Neuer wrong-footed and off balance, and while he parried the ball away, the ball had already crossed the goal line and Dortmund were level.

That put new heart in to the Dortmund attack, and they started pushing forward with abandon, with Mkhitaryan conducting play brilliantly to pull the Bayern defense apart. It took a pair of excellent saves from Neuer on shots from Marco Reus to keep things level, and especially after substitute Arjen Robben had to be removed after just 15 minutes after aggravating the abdominal injury he was making his return from, it looked like Dortmund had all the momentum.

Bayern managed to claw things back somewhat in their direction late in regulation, getting a couple decent chances at finding a winner, but not managing to get that last pass or get the finish right to actually score it. The match went to extra time, which proved to be as cagey as you would expect, both teams aching for a goal, but not wanting to give one up themselves. Half the ground thought Bastian Schweinsteiger had scored a winner for Bayern 12 minutes into the first extra time period, but his whipped header had snaked just over the bar and slapped off the roof of the net.

The second extra time period swung pretty dramatically Bayern’s way, with the hosts charging forward hard to find that goal. Dortmund’s chances at holding them off were set back badly three minutes in when Kevin Kampl earned his second yellow card of the match with what can only be described as an idiotic foul, leaving his team in the lurch and forcing Dortmund to try and hold out for penalties. Luckily Langerak was up to the challenge, making a remarkable save several minutes later to keep the scoreline even. BVB were forced to weather an incredible storm from Bayern’s attack, but weather it they did, holding on until that final whistle that sent the match to penalties.

Neuer saved Dortmund’s third try, but couldn’t save his team when the goalkeeper stepped up to take a penalty himself and sent his shot off the bar, sending BVB to the final and seeing Bayern fans and players go home with shock and disappointment on their faces. It was a brilliantly-fought match, but in the end Dortmund did just enough to hold onto the randomness of the penalty shootout, where Lady Luck was very much on their side.

Goal: Lewandowski (30’)

Goal: Aubemayeng (75’)

1. No Badman & Robben, no problem - Even with Franck Ribery still injured and Arjen Robben only playing 15 minutes as he re-aggravated the injury he was returning from, Bayern had little trouble dominating the run of play for most of this match. Dortmund certainly had their chances, but Bayern attacked almost at will, even if they couldn’t dominate out wide where Dortmund are typically weakest. They found other holes to exploit, though, sometimes with guile, sometimes with brute force. They’re nearly unstoppable not just for their sheer force of talent, but because this squad is so dynamic and well balanced that it can find any number of ways to make your life miserable.

2. Dortmund are much improved, but they’re not fixed yet - This season started off in nightmarish fashion for Dortmund, with disastrous form seeing them end the first half of the season in the relegation zone. They’ve recovered well, climbing to eighth in the Bundesliga table and wading through the DFB Pokal cup tournament to get to this semifinal match. It’s clear watching them, though, that this very much isn’t the same club that excited and thrilled for the last few years. They’re not as sharp, not as aggressive, and just not as good on a consistent level despite mostly being the same players. They can manage that quality in bursts that are enough to beat the lesser teams of the Bundesliga, but against the better teams it’s just not enough. Whether it’s age or changes to the squad not fitting right or what, this side needs work if they’re going to challenge the top of the table again.

3. Both teams really needed a win - For Bayern, winning the Bundesliga isn’t enough any more. That’s almost old hat at this stage. If they don’t win the Champions League and DFB Pokal as well, this season will be seen as a vague disappointment considering how powerful this team was. For Dortmund, a shot at winning the Pokal would be a nice consolation considering how rough -- to say the least -- this season has been, and getting into the final by beating Bayern would just be lovely. You could tell how much this match meant to both sides, fighting tooth and nail all match long, and taking it up a notch after Dortmund’s equalizer. The win was well-earned for Dortmund, downing their fiercest rival and putting a sour note on an otherwise stellar season for Bayern.