Real Madrid are once again getting carved up by Borussia Dortmund, and their injury bug is partially to blame. Without Sami Khedira or a real left back, Madrid has been poor defensively. They exploited some lax set piece defending by BVB for one goal, but the visitors have generally been the better side and deserve their 2-1 lead.
Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund: Halftime Score 1-2, BVB impressive
Marco Reus opened the scoring with an absolute stunner in the 28th minute, and it was well deserved. The double pivot of Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric simply isn't good enough defensively to deal with Dortmund's attack through the middle, and Madrid were lucky to last that long without conceding.
Following a corner kick, Mesut Ozil found Pepe to level the match for Madrid in the 34th minute. Raphael Varane won the ball on the top of the box after the corner and found Ozil, who swung a ball into the central defender for a fairly simple finish. Madrid couldn’t hold on until halftime, however, and got ripped up on the counter in stoppage time. Kevin Grosskreutz found Mario Gotze in the winner for the go-ahead goal, though replays showed that Alvaro Arbeloa got the final touch, and the goal is likely to be changed to an own goal post-match.
To start the second half, Madrid have made two changes, bringing on Michael Essien and Jose Callejon for Luka Modric and Gonzalo Higuain.
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