Dortmund celebrates a goal from Felipe Santana (R) and advances in Champions League. (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)
Down 2-1 in the second leg of UEFA Champions League play, Borussia Dortmund pulled off a brilliant victory against Malaga. A 90′ + 1′ goal by Marco Reus equalized the match and a 90′ + 2′ goal by Felipe Santana won the game for the German side — much to the delight of 65,000+ fans at Westfalenstadion, in Germany.
Malaga seemed to have won the match when midfielder Eliseu Pereira Dos Santos put his side ahead 2-1 with a goal in the 82nd minute. The second leg of this matchup ended up being quite the opposite of the first; the first ended in a nil-nil tie, which after today’s match gave Borussia Dortmund a 3-2 aggregate win. There were questionable non calls made from the referee crew, missing an offsides call on the winning goal. Earlier though, Malaga benefited from the same fortune. It was a heartbreaking loss for Malaga-who wasn’t expected to make it as far as they had in the Champions League.
Borussia Dortmund has yet to lose in UEFA Champions League play and now might be a legitimate threat to win it all, even with rival Bayern Munich recently reaching their highest level of play this season by winning the Bundesliga quicker than any club in history. Next up for Dortmund will be the semi-finals, but against whom remains to be seen.
Elsewhere today in Champions League play, Real Madrid lost 3-2 to Galatasaray in the second leg of their matchup but won 5-3 in aggregate scoring. Cristiano Ronaldo added two more goals for Madrid who will be moving on to the semi-finals as well. On Wednesday, Barcelona will play host to Paris Saint Germain in a second leg of their quarter-final matchup. At the same time, Juventus will host Bayern Munich also in their second leg of the quarter-finals.
After Wednesday, four teams will remain in the hunt for the Champions League title. A championship matchup of Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund would be a thrill. However, they could be paired up in the semi-finals (assuming Bayern Munich finishes off Juventus as expected) by chance and not have the opportunity to face each other in the championship. Barcelona will look to take care of PSG, but might have to do so without their best player — Lionel Messi.
We’re still a ways away from seeing the champion, but a clearer picture is starting to emerge of who might ring out victorious in the Champions League this season.
