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MOTD- Borussia Dortmund 1-2 Bayern Munich: Bayern win dramatic CL final at Wembley

By on May 25, 2013
Bayern Munich's Philip Lahm lifts up the Champions League trophy after Bayern sealed a dramatic win in the final against Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich’s Philip Lahm lifts up the Champions League trophy after Bayern sealed a dramatic win in the final against Borussia Dortmund

Arjen Robben’s late winner against Borussia Dortmund sealed Bayern Munich the 2013 Uefa Champions League trophy, with Bayern overcoming the disappointment of losing two Champions League finals in the last four years by being crowned champions of Europe for only the second time in thirty-seven years. Jupp Heynckes won his side their eighth major trophy since 2008 in what was the manager’s emotional last match in football, with the German set to be forced out of the club, being replaced by Pep Guardiola.

Heynckes’ team started the match on the back foot though, as Dortmund put heavy pressure on Bayern early on, with Jurgen Klopp’s side seeing most of the ball in the opening five minutes. Bayern were struggling to penetrate the Dortmund half, and Robert Lewandowski almost put the Borussians in front with a swerving long range effort in the fourteenth minute, which Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer brilliantly tipped over the bar. Seconds later Lewandowski & Co. again almost grabbed the opener, when Blaszczykowski met a low cross from the right at the near post, and his first time snap-shot was brilliantly kicked away by Neuer.

Bayern began to find their stride, and forced a stunning save out of Dortmund goalkeeper Romen Weidenfeller, who just managed to tip Mario Mandzukic’s towering header from Franck Ribery’s cross from the left onto the top crossbar. In the thirtieth minute Arjen Robben was put in on goal with a wonderful through ball from Bastian Schweinsteiger, but Weidenfeller was quick off his line and managed to block the winger’s shot with his chest. Although Dortmund were on the back foot, with Bayern keeping possession in their opponent’s half, Lewandowski had his low shot from a tight angle blocked by Neuer. In the forty-first Bayern had the best chance of the half when a long ball bounced off of Mats Hummels and fell to Robben, who had his volley from the edge of the box bounce back out of the face of an oncoming Weidenfeller. Bayern could not find the opener before the end of the half though, which ended 0-0 after a minute of added time.

Dortmund started the second half with the same zip with which they started the first, but Bayern pressed and pushed Klopp’s side back into their own half. The match stretched out, which suited Bayern, and the Bavarians took the lead in the fifty-eighth minute through Mario Manzukic. Ribery cut inside towards the Dortmund box from the left, before slipping a brilliant through ball into the run of Robben, who had beaten Dortmund’s shoddy offside trap. Robben took it around Weidenfeller on the left side of the box, before cutting it across to Mandzukic, who half-volleyed it into the back of the open net from point-blank range.

Although Bayern applied even more pressure, Dortmund somehow took the lead off a penalty in the sixty-sixth minute. Dante oafishly stuck his leg up to kick the ball away from Marco Reus, but missed the ball, and his studs fell right into Reus’ thigh. Referee Nicola Rizzoli had no choice but to award a penalty, although he somehow decided not to give Dante, who had already been booked, a second yellow. Ilkay Gundogan stepped up to take the kick, and sent Neuer the wrong way, coolly slotting it into the bottom corner of the net. The match became very open, and Bayern came tantalizingly close to taking the lead in the seventy-second minute when Tomas Muller was slipped in on goal on the counter, and after rounding Weidenfeller, passed the ball into the back of the net from a tight angle on the right But somehow, just as the ball was about to cross the goal-line, Neven Subotic flung himself at the ball, and performed an improbable twist to kick the ball off the line, when Robben could have easily tapped it into the open net.

Moments later Bayern again came very close to retaking the lead, when Muller laid it off to David Alaba on the edge of the Dortmund box, and the left-back hit a fierce shot that Weidenfeller just managed to punch wide. After a breathless period of football, the match just started to settle down with extra-time looking certain, until Robben gave Bayern a dramatic late winner in the eighty-eighth minute. A Bayern free-kick inside their own half was hoofed into the Dortmund box, and it fell to Ribery, who somehow managed to wriggle a backheel through three Dortmund defenders in the center of the box. Robben pounced on the loose ball, and although Weidenfeller was quick to come off his line, the Dutchman hit a soft left-footed shot across his body into the back of the net. Dortmund could not grab an equalizer in the little time remaining, and after three minutes of added time, Bayern became champions of Europe for only the second time in the past thirty-seven years. While Dortmund players crumpled to the ground at the sound of the final whistle, Bayern’s squad rushed on to the field exploding with joy and happiness.
Man of the Match: Arjen Robben

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.