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Borussia Dortmund are heading to the Santiago Bernabeu with a three-goal lead, thanks to a masterful performance by Robert Lewandowski. He scored all four of his team's goals on Wednesday night in their 4-1 win over Real Madrid.
The hosts were the better side from the very beginning of the game. Marco Reus had an absolutely brilliant 50-yard run with the ball into the box in the 7th minute, after Sven Bender dispossessed Sami Khedira. He had his shot brilliantly saved by Diego Lopez, and Lewandowski couldn't reach the rebound to finish.
Dortmund's superstar striker would make up for his slow reaction on that occasion just a minute later, when he tapped in his team's opening goal. Ilkay Gündogan started the move with a great ball out wide for Mario Götze, who swung a perfect cross towards the back post. Lewandowski got himself into the perfect spot to direct the cross into the back of the net with his outstretched leg to give Dortmund the lead.
In the 42nd minute, a pair of events appeared to turn the game and the tie on its head. Reus went down in the penalty area in the 42nd minute, but referee Bjorn Kulpers judged that he was not fouled by Raphäel Varane. Less than a minute later, a defensive error gifted an equalizer to Los Merengues.
Neven Subotic inexplicably tried to play a throw-in backwards in his own half, putting Mats Hummels in a poor spot. He could have cleared away, but took a poor touch that allowed Gonzalo Higuain to dribble into the penalty area. He was closed down, but squared for Cristiano Ronaldo who finished into an empty net. Madrid pounded a rattled Dortmund for the remainder of the half, and looked to have the upper hand heading to the dressing room.
Unbelievably, the tables turned almost instantly after the start of the half. Madrid didn't simply give away the lead, but instead crumbled in incredible fashion, much like Barcelona did against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night. While Dortmund's second half successes were only possible because of a great team performance, they were much more about one man than what Bayern did.
Lewandowski scored his second and third goals in quick succession, sinking Madrid in the process. In the 50th minute, Reus played him in on goal with a brilliant through ball and he touched it into the back of the net for his second goal of the night. Madrid protested furiously for offside, but Lewandowski had timed his run brilliantly to stay level with Pepe. Five minutes later, he completed his hat trick in brilliant fashion, pulling the ball away from Pepe in the box before blasting it into the roof of the net from 10 yards.
Things got even worse for Madrid in the 66th minute when Xabi Alonso shoved Reus in the back, and the referee correctly pointed to the spot. Lewandowski stepped up and hit an absolutely unstoppable bullet to record his fourth goal of the night, setting up a nearly impossible task for Madrid in the second leg.
The visitors had a few half-chances to score a second away goal, which would have made their task in Madrid a bit more realistic for them to complete, but they never found the net as the Dortmund defense did brilliantly to hang on.
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