LIVE: Dortmund vs Bayern
May 25, 2013Full time!! Bayern Munich have won the Champions League for the fifth time! Coach Jupp Heynckes has won it for the second time. Dortmund lose 2-1 on the night at Wembley Stadium.
90+' --- Mats Hummels, once a Bayern boy, is playing as an extra striker for Dortmund, who have just seconds to salvage something.
90+' --- Subs galore: Sahin and Schieber take to the field for Dortmund, Luiz Gustavo for Bayern. Dortmund need a Malaga-esque miracle - and fast.
88' --- GOAL for Arjen Robben! Bayern lead 2-1. Bayern's "Robbery" duo might have stolen the title there. Franck Ribery did brilliantly to control a long ball on the edge of the box and feed Robben, who danced through the middle and finished low under a helpless Weidenfeller.
87' --- Apologies to Bastian Schweinsteiger (see 82'). This latest left-footed shot was an absolute peach. Again, Weidenfeller leaps to Dortmund's rescue. Great vision from Thomas Müller to let the ball run to his countryman.
85' --- Dortmund enjoy a rare foray forward since hitting their equalizer, only for it to break down in the final third. Five minutes and change left in the 90.
82' --- Schweinsteiger seeks to send the ball up those 107 steps ahead of time. He certainly put his left-footed shot high enough. The German international appealed for a corner - after a miss like that, wouldn't you?
78' --- Naughty, naughty... Replays catch an irked Robert Lewandowski treading down on the ankle of the stricken Jerome Boateng. If Ribery was lucky in the first half, that's tied up the "was it a red card?" score at 1-1, as well.
76' --- Side-netting Mario Mandzukic! Bayern are pouring on the pressure here, Dortmund have around 15 minutes to hang on just to make extra time, no easy feat the way this is going since their goal.
75' --- David Alaba fires a piledriver at Weidenfeller from the edge of the box. His quarterfinal goal against Juventus was a tame side-footer by comparison, but the Dortmund goalie was equal to a splendid strike from the Austrian.
73' --- Grosskreutz booked for a foul on Ribery.
71' --- Subotic clears off the line, robbing Arjen Robben of an open goal! This followed seconds after Franck Ribery - of all people - made a crucial interception inside the Bayern box. Game on.
69' --- Dortmund suddenly have the bit between their teeth. Mats Hummels came bounding forward on the break, but blasted well over the bar. Some 20 minutes of regular time, it seems about time to talk that way, remain.
67' --- Ilkay Gündogan buries the spot kick! Dortmund tie it up at 1-1.
66' --- Penalty Dortmund! Dante clashes with Reus in the box and makes seemingly painful contact with the German's midriff.
64' --- Ribery clashes heads with Neven Subotic and comes off considerably worse against the big center back. He's back on his feet though. Jürgen Klopp, meanwhile, is making his touchline gestures in a typically expressive manner.
61' --- Three chances in five minutes for Bayern's number nine. Mandzukic couldn't get any real purchase on his latest chance though, allowing Weidenfeller to gobble it up. Bayern lead 1-0.
59' --- GOAL!!! Mario Mandzukic breaks the deadlock for Bayern Munich. Robben and Ribery combined down the left, with Robben just managing to square the ball across the face of goal. Weidenfeller was committed, Schmelzer couldn't get there, Mandzukic was free to tap it home from point blank. He won't score an easier, or a more important, goal.
58' --- Mandzukic pops a header down Weidenfeller's throat from a Bayern corner.
55' --- Mats Hummels picks Ribery's pocket with the grace of a Dickensian Dodger. Wonderful defending, but it can't mask the fact that Bayern are calling the shots so far in the second.
53' --- UEFA's Michel Platini and Chancellor Angela Merkel are sharing a view of the action in the stadium. How much do you think they paid for their tickets?
49' --- One at each end... First Dortmund's Mats Hummels, then David Alaba of Bayern make key challenges in their own third to break down potentially dangerous attacks early after the break.
47' --- Reus wins a free kick from a clumsy Ribery challenge. He took the set piece himself but it bounced through the Bayern box and into Neuer's arms.
46' --- The second half begins. At least 45 minutes remain at Wembley. Dortmund 0-0 Bayern.
Key first half talking points would surely be the heroics of both German keepers. Neuer and Weidenfeller are currently vying for the man of the match award after a string of splendid saves to keep the scoreline anemic at the break. The fate of Franck Ribery, "only" cautioned for a big push on Lewandowski, might also be worth analyzing after the game. Ref Rizzoli erred on the side of caution.
------------------Half Time: Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Bayern Munich-------------------------
45' --- Half time. Nicola Rizzoli wants his energy drink, orange and whatever else awaits him in the break. He plays not a single second of first-half stoppage time and blows the whistle bang on cue.
42' --- Robben again! He volleys straight into Roman Weidenfeller's face from point-blank range. Great goalkeeping, though he probably knew rather little about it, and enjoyed it even less. Mats Hummels will thank his goalie for that "get out of jail" card, after some rather suspect defending of the long ball to Robben.
40' --- Is it time to mention that Bayern and Dortmund drew in both their Bundesliga encounters this season? It's goalless, with half time approaching, at Wembley. Both sides could have put one home by now, but maybe there's more than 90 minutes in this, like last year?
36' --- A clear cut chance falls to Arjen Robben... On his (shall we say unfavored?) right foot. And that's where the sad story ends.
34' --- Manuel Neuer to the rescue again! This must remind him of his Schalke days. The German international got down low to deny Robert Lewandowksi in a one-on-one.
33' --- Bastian Schweinsteiger, not yet his imperious self bossing the midfield, delivers a lead-footed free kick he'd rather forget. Bayern's vice captain could be a key figure if Jupp Heynckes' side intend to get more of a foothold in this game.
30' --- Arjen Robben! Clean through on the inside right, and Roman Weidenfeller came to the rescue in the one-on-one. Chalk that up as the first sitter of the night. Robben's attempted chip was a nice idea, but Weidenfeller stayed big, doing his best impression of Peter Schmeichel.
28' --- Dante is the next player to earn himself a spot in Rizzoli's book, bringing down Marco Reus, who was on a promising run.
26' --- Mario Mandzukic with Bayern's first chance! A back post header tests Weidenfeller to the full, but the Dortmund goalie got a big glove to the ball. From the subsequent corner, Javi Martinez nods over the bar. The Bavarians have arrived at Wembley. Now, can they make a chance with the ball on that hallowed turf as well?
24' --- Franck Ribery, getting some close attention from Robert Lewandowski, "liberates" himself with his arm. Both players warned but not carded, Nicola Rizzoli was perhaps a little kind to the Frenchman.
21' ---Dortmund have done everything but score here. Now it's Sven Bender - of all people - forcing Neuer into a diving save from close in. Great work by Kevin Grossskreutz, playing in Götze's stead, to make the chance.
18' --- Marco Reus - the man who snubbed Bayern last summer unlike his partner in crime Mario Götze - tests Manuel Neuer once again on the breakaway. We often joke that the Bayern goalie might as well sit out some of the Bavarians' matches - he's earning his keep early in the opening period.
17' --- Hullo, a Bayern Munich period of possession and pressure; normalcy is restored at Wembley. Nevertheless, the Bavarians are still waiting on their first scoring chance with the 20-minute mark fast approaching.
14' ---Dortmund's strong start continues; Reus crosses from the right to find Kuba - Neuer to the rescue for a third time from the Polish winger's close-range shot.
12' --- Double trouble from the Polish goal poacher. Robert Lewandowski turns Jerome Boateng inside out, only to run the ball out of play down the left flank. Seconds thereafter, Lewandowski curled another towards goal with his left foot. Bread and butter for Manuel Neuer really, but it's another corner for Dortmund.
9' --- Robben and Ribery sought to combine down the right but the Bayern attack broke down. Dortmund moved straight down the other end, earning a shot from "Kuba" Blaszczykowski. The first strike on goal in a nervy opening 10 minutes - but it was nowhere near Neuer's net.
6' --- If Bayern don't like defending corners, goalie Manuel Neuer seemingly does. He rose high to claim the delivery, no nonsense.
6' --- The opening phase has been comparatively cagey as both sides size each other up. Corner number two for Dortmund though, after Boateng was forced to head behind. Bayern don't love defending corners.
3' --- Robert Lewandowski wins Dortmund a corner, as a bouncing ball just wouldn't sit for him to volley in the box. The set piece, however, petered out.
2' --- First foul of the game and it's between Sven Bender (aggressor) and Javi Martinez. Didn't take Nostradamus to see that coming, the two midfield combatants firing the first salvo.
1' --- Kick off! Bayern start the ball rolling at Wembley, playing of course in red. The 2013 final is off and running.
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It's final time in Wembley, some 90,000 supporters - a fair chunk of them German - have packed the stadium for what Michel Platini in a slip of the tongue called the "German Cup" final.
Borussia Dortmund, who spoiled Bayern's Bundesliga season in the previous two campaigns, now seek to wreck their European party instead after being demolished by the Bavarians in the German Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich, meanwhile, are aiming to dodge their bridesmaids' status, having finished as Champions League runners up to Inter Milan in 2010 and after losing to Chelsea on penalties last season.
In 2012, the Champions League was won by a London club in Munich. This year, it will be won by a German team at Wembley. But will it go to Munich or Dortmund?
Borussia Dortmund XI: Weidenfeller (c) - Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Bender, Gündogan - Blasczcykowski, Reus, Grosskreutz - Lewandowski (coach: Jürgen Klopp)
Subs: Langerak - Felipe Santana, Kirch, Kehl, Leitner, Sahin, Schieber
Bayern Munich XI: Neuer - Lahm (c), Boateng, Dante, Alaba - Javi Martinez, Schweinsteiger - Robben, Müller, Ribery - Mandzukic
Subs: Starke - van Buyten, Luiz Gustavo, Shaqiri, Tymoshchuk, Gomez, Pizarro
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)