Real Madrid 2 - 0 Borussia Dortmund (UEFA Champions League, Semi-finals, 2nd Leg)

Real Madrid deserved more. The Whites kept trying right to the end and came close to completing the comeback with goals from Benzema, in the 82nd minute, and Ramos, in the 88th minute. Being short of luck and a great performance from Weidenfeller prevented the goals from coming sooner. In fact, and within just the first fifteen minutes, the home side had three chances against the German goalkeeper. The fans left the Santiago Bernabeu proud of their team, who left everything out on the field and made a titanic effort.

Real Madrid was one goal short of the final

Getting to the final of the Champions League would have meant turning the tie around in the Bernabeu from the 4-1 loss in Germany. Real Madrid did not go easy on Borussia Dortmund and made their intentions clear from the start. Supported by a Bernabeu crowd that was evocative of the stadium’s big occasions, the Whites pushed themselves to the limit and went for possession of the ball as the way to get back into the tie. Inside the first ten minutes they had already racked up four corners and had another three shots on goal. In one of them, in the 4th minute, Higuain came close to putting his team ahead. Weidenfeller came out on top against the Argentine in the one-on-one.

Atletico Madrid 1 - 2 Real Madrid (Spanish League, Day 33)

Real Madrid won again at the Vicente Calderon and displayed the strength in depth that Jose Mourinho has available. Things went against the Whites very early on, but they showed their resilience and turned around the scoreboard following Falcao’s fourth minute opener. Di Maria played a key role. The first goal came from a free-kick taken by the Argentine that deflected off of Juanfran before beating Courtois. The second was his and with a shot into the far corner. It was deserved and that is what was shown by the ovation that the Real Madrid fans in Atletico’s stadium gave him when he was replaced by Modric. Eleventh consecutive unbeaten league match (ten of them have been wins) and a morale boost ahead of their attempt to turn around the tie in Tuesday’s semi-final second leg against Borussia Dortmund and reach the final at Wembley.

Derby win and now to think of Dortmund

Real Madrid played the La Liga derby at the Vicente Calderon three days ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg match. The match began in the worst possible way. A free-kick taken by Gabi to the 4th minute and, following a block from Diego Lopez, Godin picked up the rebound before crossing to Falcao, who finished with an easy header. Everything was against them from the start but the Whites don’t give up easily and equalised nine minutes later, also from a set piece. Di Maria’s shot, having been encharged with taking the free-kick, deflected off of Juanfran as it was in flight and beat Courtois.