Borussia Dortmund Ties Real Madrid 2-2 To Secure Top Spot In Champions League Group F

Borussia Dortmund rallied from two goals down to tie with Real Madrid 2-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu and secure the top spot in Champions League Group F.

Borussia Dortmund Ties Real Madrid 2-2 To Secure Top Spot In Champions League Group F

Marco Reus scored the 88th minute equalizer for the German club.

Only a win would have seen Real beat Dortmund for the top group spout on Wednesday. Karim Benzema scored both of the Spanish team’s goals, one in each half.

Benzema opened scoring in the 28th minute. Dani Carvajal found plenty of space to race down the right lane and crossed for the French striker, who beat a Real defenseman at the far post to finish from close range.

Dortmund nearly tied it before the break. Ousmane Dembele set up 18-year-old U.S. international Christian Pulisic after 38 minutes, but the young midfielder was denied by goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Benzema then netted his second goal at the 53rd minute, heading home at the back stick after James Rodriguez had tossed up a cross in his direction.

By then, Dortmund seemed like they needed much help to come back, and French-born Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang provided the spark. Gonzalo Castro picked out Marcel Schmelzer breaking in behind, and his volleyed cross found Aubameyang, who finished with a one-timer.

Real Madrid then nearly responded with a third goal, but Dortmund goalie Roman Weidenfeller denied Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot from the edge of the box, before Benzema saw his header cleared off the line by Reus from the resulting corner kick.

Ronaldo then took a shot in the 78th minute, but his effort struck the post after he found himself unmarked in the box by Lucas Vazquez. 

Finally, in the 88th minute, Aubameyang found Reus in the middle with a low cross, and the German winger perfectly slotted home past Navas.

With the win, Dortmund took the record for most goals in a Champions League group stage with 21. Real would have needed three goals to clinch the top group spot.

Meanwhile, Italian club Juventus also head into the knockout stages after defeating Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 at home on Wednesday.

Poland’s Legia Warsaw also beat Sporting Lisbon 1-0 to leapfrog them in Group F and claim a Europa League spot.

German team Bayer Leverkusen beat Monaco 3-0, but still finished second behind the French club in Group E.

MADRID, SPAIN – DECEMBER 07: Lukasz Piszczek of Borussia Dortmund (L) attempts to take the ball past James Rodriguez of Real Madrid (R) during the UEFA Champions League Group F match between Real Madrid CF and Borussia Dortmund at the Bernabeu on December 7, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)