Cristiano Ronaldo was on fire in Real Madrid’s win over Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund were ready for a fight and gave Real Madrid everything they could in their Champions League group stage match in Germany, but the Spanish giants were just too good, riding two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo to run out 3-1 winners in Dortmund to establish their dominance over Group H.

The match started with Borussia Dortmund on the front foot, pushing high and hard trying to steal an early goal from Real Madrid. It actually looked like they were going to do just that in the early minutes, but a clear intentional handball at the line from Sergio Ramos that should have ended in a penalty and red card went unseen by the Dutch referee, saving Madrid from potentially going down a goal and a man.

Madrid would quickly reverse some of that pressure, with Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal running rampant on the counter attack early on, the duo creating multiple quality scoring chances that were only barely stopped at times. Eventually, Dortmund couldn’t contain Bale, and he got on the end of another Carvajal pass to fire home a gorgeous shot to put Real Madrid ahead 18 minutes into the match.

Things kept going back and forth for a spell, with Dortmund getting the best of many of their exchanges, but thanks to some brilliant defending from Madrid, they just couldn’t find a goal. Things got even more desperate for them early in the second half when another counter attack saw Bale suck in the Dortmund defense before sending in a pass to a lurking Cristiano Ronaldo, who hammered home his shot with aplomb to put the defending Champions League winners ahead 2-0.

Dortmund were given some hope just a few minutes later when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finally came good on one of their many forays forward to make it 2-1, but despite all the pressure BVB put on, they just couldn’t find an equalizer, coming closest when Aubameyang hit the side netting on a difficult tight-angle shot that had Keylor Navas beat in Madrid’s goal.

That inability to find a finish forced Dortmund to push harder and harder, slowly opening more opportunities for Real Madrid to put the game away — and they did exactly that when Luka Modric managed to pick out Ronaldo as he ran past the German defense, quickly controlling the ball and unleashing a shot that Roman Burki had absolutely no chance at saving.

The win puts Real Madrid atop Group H in the Champions League, even with Tottenham Hotspur on points, but clearly head and shoulders better than the English team in terms of quality of performance. They’ll be going head-to-head in the next two Champions League matchdays, with their first tilt three weeks away at the Santiago Bernabeu.

That’s going to be a match that all eyes will be on, while Borussia Dortmund try to salvage something from this group out of the first of a pair of matches against APOEL. Opening the group stage with zero points through two matches was not what BVB had in mind, and they’re going to have to be near-perfect in the final four games of the group if they’re going to make it to the knockout rounds as they intend to do.

Borussia Dortmund: Roman Burki; Lukasz Piszczek, Sokratis, Omer Toprak, Jeremy Toljan (Mahmod Dahoud 60’); Mario Gotze (Christian Pulisic 76’) Nuri Sahin (Julian Weigl 60’), Gonzalo Castro; Andriy Yarmolenko, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Max Philipp

Goals: Aubameyang (54’)

Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Nacho; Luka Modric (Dani Ceballos 90’+1), Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Isco (Marco Asensio 76’); Gareth Bale (Lucas Vazquez 85’), Cristiano Ronaldo

Goals: Bale (18’), Ronaldo (49’, 79’)

At the end of last season, many thought that Real Madrid should part ways with Gareth Bale. He’d had injury issues, he’d had incredibly long bouts of poor form, and he just wasn’t being the player that Madrid needed him to be, especially since he didn’t seem to be comfortable playing in Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow. Early this season, though, Bale had been slowly turning things around, and on Tuesday, he declared to the world that he’s exactly where he belongs.

Playing up top with Ronaldo in Madrid’s makeshift 4-3-1-2 they’ve adapted since Karim Benzema’s injury, Bale was a terror to Dortmund’s back line. His speed and explosiveness was the perfect counter to the high line the Germans were playing, continuously pulling them apart to give Ronaldo and Isco room to work with behind them.

And that’s before even considering the quality goal and assist that he registered, opening the scoring in the first half after creating several high-risk threats at goal in the opening minutes, then pulling almost the entire Dortmund defense to him early in the second half before expertly sliding the ball over to Ronaldo to make it 2-0. Bale was a constant threat and menace, and it was good to see him playing so well again after he struggled for so long last season.

Many observers criticized Dortmund for playing a high line against the expert counter attack that Real Madrid can bring to bear, but despite coming out on the wrong side of the result, it’s hard to actually fault them for it. Peter Bosz knows his team’s strengths and weaknesses well, and he’s a good enough tactical manager to recognize the things he needs to do in order to give his team a chance against a superior opponent like Madrid, and he knew that their standard, high-line setup with quick-trigger passing was the best way to go at Madrid.

And it nearly worked. They would have gone ahead early if not for the should-have-been-a-penalty Sergio Ramos handball, and they were able to put steady pressure on Madrid’s back line for long stretches of the game. If not for a high-quality performance from Dani Carvajal, Casemiro, and Raphael Varane to keep Dortmund at bay, we could be talking about a very different result right now.

But we aren’t, because Dortmund lost their gamble. That doesn’t change the fact that it was a smart risk to take, though, and one that we’ll see them make over and over again this year, because more often than not, they’re probably going to come out on the good side of it.

The young French defender has long been admired for his talent, but he’s been a lightning rod of criticism at times by Real Madrid fans at times as well. He hasn’t always been the player he’s “supposed” to be since joining Madrid, and many fans were nervous when Pepe was jettisoned this past summer in order to finally tab Varane as “the guy” to partner with Sergio Ramos.

But on Tuesday, Varane rewarded that faith with a terrific performance, stepping up on a day when Ramos was shaky at times and doing a lot almost on his own at times to keep Dortmund’s attack blunted. It was one of the best performances of his career, and Varane showed fans and critics alike just why he was put into this position. He has the talent to be one of the best defenders in the world — and early on this season, it’s starting to look like he’s taking the steps he needs to get there.