Borussia Dortmund vs. Real Madrid: Halftime score 1-1, Ronaldo equalizes late for Madrid

B orussia Dortmund scored early and then
withstood some pressure late in the half
before taking a 1-0 lead into the locker
room at halftime. Robert Lewandowski's
sliding goal in the 9th minute is the
differnece
BVB came flying out of the block early
coming close to a goal before finding the
back of the net before the ten minute mark
of the first half.

blog Managing Madrid
in the 7th minute Sven Bender sprung
Marco Reus on the counter attack with a
tremendous tackle that freed the midfielder
through the middle. Reus sliced into the
Madrid area, going right around Raphael
Varane before forcing a save from Diego
Lopez , who could only parry the ball to the
left . Robert Lewandowski just missed
getting on the rebound but he would not
miss a couple minutes later.
Ilkay Gündogan, who had a strong frist
half, found Mario Götze wide on the left in
the 9th minute with a quick pass. Götze
made a cut back up-field and found
Lewandowski at the far post for a sliding
redirect past Lopez . Lewandowski had
blown by Pepe in the Madrid box and there
was nothing Lopez could do to stop the
Polish international from staking Dortmund
to an early 1-0 lead.
Madrid settled down after the goal and
their increased possession allowed them to
slow down the tempo and start creating
some chances.
Cristiano Ronaldo generated Madrid's first
real attacking moment of the game in the
24th minute, earning a free kick from 30-
yards out. After his now famous stare
down of the dead ball, Ronaldo launched a
shot that curled over the wall and forced
Roman Weidenfeller to parry the ball away.
The keeper handled it well and the danger
was cleared by Dortmund.
Marco Reus went down after some contact
with Varane inside the Madrid box but the
referee wanted nothing to do with it.
Distracted by the non call, Dortmund were
punished for the lapse in concentration as
Mats Hummels made an ill-advised back
pass that was picked up by Gonzalo
Higuain who raced into the BVB box.
Higuain waited patiently for Ronaldo to
catch up before crossing to the striker for
an easy finish, giving Madrid a precious
away goal right before the halftime break.