Real Madrid 3 Borussia Dortmund 0: match report

The Real manager, Carlo Ancelotti, can afford to think beyond next Tuesday’s return leg to the semi-finals, when the mobilisation for their 10th coronation as champions of Europe reaches the business phase.

Few would deny that they are favourites for that extraordinary accomplishment on the latest evidence, given that the aggregate score for their last three Champions League contests is an eye-watering 12-2. They are, just possibly, approaching the cusp of a new golden age.

“We used a lot of intensity in this match,” Ancelotti said. “We needed a lot of energy to play at that level.”

While Dortmund matched Real for effort, too much of it was futile as they let 12 shots on goal slip by, all but neutering the second leg at the Westfalenstadion.

Their manager, Jürgen Klopp, bristled, however, at any intimation that his class of 2014 were somehow inferior to the team that reached a Wembley final. “Do you think I’m an idiot?” he shot back. “Most seem to think that my team is worse than last year, but it’s rubbish. In any case, this is not a situation to make speeches about. It is 0-3. All I can say about the rematch is that we will be there.”

So, too, amid many sighs from Dortmund, will Bale. The Welshman wasted no time in sustaining his upsurge in form of late, rushing on to Daniel Carvajal’s brilliantly weighted pass before toe-poking his finish expertly under goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller. The early celebrations did not, as it turned out, breed complacency.

Impatiently and with his signature strut, Ronaldo waited to muscle in on the action. He almost did so when his viciously swerving free-kick, redolent of Roberto Carlos, had to be tipped over by Weidenfeller. Instead it fell to Isco, the vibrant midfielder signed from Málaga last summer, to spark the impetus once more.

Straight from a Dortmund corner, Karim Benzema headed clear for Isco to surge forward. He laid the ball off to Ronaldo, then hared to the edge of the box to angle a low shot, rather limp but wickedly accurate, to elude Weidenfeller’s desperate lunge.

Isco was magnificent on Wednesday night, illustrating that he was worth all his £25 million fee and more through the deftest of interplay with Ronaldo, which required Mats Hummels at the last second to deprive Real of a third.

As the rain, which had been falling all day in the capital, intensified a touch, so Ronaldo came to the boil. Thrusting his shoulders back, stepping up the number of step-overs, he finally broke through when Dortmund squandered possession too generously in defence, inviting Isco to slide in a sumptuous pass that Ronaldo could not help but roll past poor Weidenfeller.

Benzema was Real’s only missing link in attack, and almost corrected that when the lively Carvajal teed him up for a shot that he lashed first time, albeit straight at Dortmund’s besieged goalkeeper.

Ancelotti appeared to have one eye on the semi-finals with only an hour gone, bringing on Asier Illarramendi for the brilliant Isco, who left to a standing ovation.

The reception was not nearly so effusive, though, as that reserved for Ronaldo when he at last made way for Casemiro. Supporters here realise acutely that he could be the one, in six weeks’ time, to unlock that door to La Décima.

Match details

Real Madrid (4-3-3) Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao; Modric, Alonso, Isco (Illarramendi 72); Bale, Benzema (Morata 75), Ronaldo (Casemiro 80). 
Subs López (g), Varane, Nacho, Rodríguez.
Goals Bale 3, Isco 27, Ronaldo 57.

Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1) Weidenfeller; Piszczek (Schieber 67), Hummels, Papastathopoulos, Durm; Kehl (Jojic 74), Sahin; Grosskreutz, Mkhitaryan (Hofmann 64), Reus; Aubameyang. 
Subs Langerak (g), Friedrich, Kirch, Ducksch. 
Booked Reus, Kehl, Grosskreutz.

Referee M Clattenburg (England).
Att 75,000.