Lucas Vazquez scored the winner as Real Madrid recorded a 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund in their final Champions League group game on Wednesday.
Real Madrid entered the match having already qualified for the round of 16 as Group H runners-up, but Dortmund needed a favour from section winners Tottenham Hotspur in a bid to secure third position ahead of APOEL.
As it transpired, APOEL suffered a 3-0 defeat at Wembley, meaning that Dortmund were able to secure the Europa League spot despite ending their Group H campaign with a narrow loss.
Los Blancos were ahead in the eighth minute though, with Mayoral clipping home from close range after Isco’s touch from a Cristiano Ronaldo cross had found the 20-year-old in a dangerous position.
The hosts then doubled their lead in the 12th minute through a wonderful Ronaldo effort as the Portuguese became the first player in history to score in all six Champions League matches in the group stage of the competition.
Theo Hernandez then sent one just wide of the Dortmund post in the 22nd minute as Real Madrid threatened to run away with the contest before the mid-point of the first period.
Dortmund’s best work was coming out wide as Raphael Guerreiro was given freedom to break forward, and the number 13 came within inches of finding Aubameyang with a low cross in the 25th minute, before Kagawa saw a close-range strike blocked by Raphael Varane after smart work from Pulisic.
Ronaldo again tested Burki in the 33rd minute as Real Madrid threatened a third, but Dortmund were seriously threatening down the other end, with Aubameyang sending the ball narrowly wide of the post from a dangerous position.
A Dortmund goal was coming, and it finally arrived in the 43rd minute when Aubameyang headed a super Marcel Schmelzer cross into the back of the net to change the complexion of the match before the interval.
Aubameyang then levelled the scores in the 48th minute when he chipped over Keylor Navas at the second time of asking after first being denied by the Costa Rica international. Real Madrid wanted offside, but the goal was allowed.
Ronaldo should have netted his second three minutes later after Isco fed the number seven inside the Dortmund box, but his low effort missed the far post.
It was like a basketball match in the period either side of the 60-minute mark, with both teams committing numbers on the counter-attack in a bid to snatch the game’s fifth goal.
Dortmund finally conceded a third in the 81st minute when Vazquez’s clever effort found the bottom corner, and that proved to be the winner after Kagawa fired the away side’s best chance over the crossbar late on.
Trending
- Queues: NNPC says cause of tightness in fuel supply resolved
- LG polls: Oyo declares Friday half working day
- Ondo 2024: Ajayi emerges PDP governorship candidate
- ‘Dey play,’ Nigerians mock prophet who claims world ends today
- Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Demolition for first 3km begins Saturday
- Court subpoenas Lagos prison controller over disobedience to order
- Ondo poll: You’ll be successful tomorrow, Ganduje tells Jimoh Ibrahim, others
- Court sets aside arrest warrant against Fubara’s Chief of Staff