BVB in the semi-finals: a look back

Borussia Dortmund reached the semi-finals in a European competition for the ninth time and the UEFA Champions League for the fifth time. A look back at great matches against Inter Milan, Manchester United and Real Madrid...

Season 1963/64 - Inter Milan

60 years ago, in the 1963/64 season, the Black & Yellows qualified for the semi-finals of the European Cup for the first time, beating Lynn Oslo, Benfica and Dukla Prague in memorable fashion en route to the final. BVB's opponents in the semi-finals, which kicked off on 15 April 1964, were Inter Milan. At the time, Helenio Herrera's team were the leading lights of Italian football.

The Black & Yellows got off to a furious start in front of a crowd of 42,356 supporters at the Rote Erde stadium, but were pegged back when Inter's Sandro Mazzola grabbed the opening goal in the fourth minute. However, the game soon swung back in BVB's favour, as Franz Brungs netted two goals in the space of five minutes (23/28). Inter struck back through Mario Corso four minutes before half-time to bring the score to 2-2, where it would remain until the final whistle, partly because of a questionable offside decision to deny Brungs his hat-trick.

The Italian press were full of praise. Corriere dello Sport wrote: "We don't know which other team could have avoided defeat after falling behind in this Dortmund cauldron, where Benfica's hopes were buried. Goalkeeper Sarti deserves most of the credit for the draw. Some of his saves were fabulous." They then wrote of Borussia: "Centre-forward Brungs impressed us most with his unstoppable prowess in the air. But the German team's most striking characteristic was their pace."

BVB subsequently suffered a 2-0 defeat in the second leg in front of 90,000 fans at the San Siro. Inter were famed for their defensive artistry, but they started the game on the front foot, forcing goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski to produce some brilliant saves in the early stages. But the Black & Yellows soon found their feet, and started to control the ball and pin back their opponents. But three minutes after the break, Mazzola scored to make it 1-0, before Jair added a second with a quarter of an hour to go to send Inter through to the final in Vienna, where they would go on to beat Real Madrid 3-1.

Season 1996/97 - Manchester United

It took BVB 33 years to make it back to the semi-finals of Europe's elite club competition, which was now known as the Champions League. There they faced Manchester United, a team packed full of stars who came into the tie as favourites against a Borussia Dortmund team that had won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 1995 and 1996, but had struggled to replicate that form in 1997.

Ottmar Hitzfeld was without the injured Karl-Heinz Riedle, Steffen Freund, Julio Cesar, Stéphane Chapuisat, Jürgen Kohler, Rene Schneider and Ibrahim Tanko for the first leg.. Matthias Sammer was also suspended. The battle took place on a less than ideal playing surface, as back in those days, the pitch at the Westfalenstadion tended to look like a country field until well into the spring. The Black & Yellows had to show patience, as Manchester United were content to sit back and look for chances to counter. Borussia struggled to muster up the requisite creativity to break down the defence. Those among the 48,500 spectators who came to watch beautiful football were left disappointed.

The visitors came out with more attacking intent after the break. First Nicky Butt struck the left-hand upright, then David Beckham got the better of BVB goalkeeper Stefan Klos, only for Martin Kree to come out of nowhere and clear the ball just off the line. With a quarter of an hour to play, the game was still goalless when Paulo Sousa intercepted a pass in midfield. No-one expected what happened next. René Tretschok, Dortmund's substitute striker, who had achieved little up to that point, took the ball from the feet of the Portuguese and embarked on a run forward. His boldness paid off, as he found the back of the net to give BVB a 1-0 lead. The Westfalenstadion was rocking.

The goal meant the pressure was on Manchester United for the second leg at Old Trafford, the "theatre of dreams". The pressure only grew as Lars Ricken put BVB (playing without Sammer, Cesar, Sousa and Freund) in front after just eight minutes, extending the aggregate lead to 2-0. Peter Schmeichel would most likely have been able to save the BVB captain's shot on the turn were it not for a slight deflection. United now needed three goals. And they had enough chances to score them. But what happened in the 18th minute, when Jürgen Kohler made an unbelievable goalline clearance to write himself into footballing legend, was a sign that it just wasn't going to be United's day.

Borussia struggled to find any means of relieving the pressure. But the depleted Black & Yellows fought heroically until the end. When all was said and done, they weren't just applauded for their efforts by the 3,400 travelling fans; the home crowd of over 50,000 also gave the away team a standing ovation.

Season 1997/98 - Real Madrid

In the spring of 1998, BVB faced Real Madrid in the semi-finals of Europe's elite. Fittingly, the first leg took place on 1 April, and what happened at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu was reminiscent of an April Fool's joke. There is even a Wikipedia entry on the subject: "Before the start of the match, Spanish fans had climbed the protective fence behind one of the goals. As a result, the fence collapsed at 20:43, taking the goal attached to it with it. The match was due to start just two minutes later at 20:45, but this was not possible due to the collapsed goal. Players and coaches had to go back to the dressing room. It took over an hour before a new goal could be brought into the stadium from Real Madrid's training ground. After a review by the referee, the match kicked off 76 minutes later than planned."

In light of the unexpected circumstances, UEFA officials had to relax the usual regulations, while the Borussia Dortmund players were made to wait in the dressing room for a potential kick-off. In the meantime, German TV commentator Marcel Reif and presenter Günther Jauch had to find a way to entertain themselves and the audience: "Never before has a game needed a goal more than this one," or "For all those who didn't switch on in time, the first goal has already fallen!" Once play actually started, goals from Morientes and Christian Karembeu, scored at 22:36 and 23:32 respectively, gave Madrid a 2-0 win.

In the second leg, Borussia tried everything they could to make up for the 2-0 deficit, but despite several good chances, they were unable to score. The youngster Ibrahim Tanko was particularly unlucky in front of goal. From a Madrid perspective, Roberto Carlos hit the underside of the crossbar with one of his famous free-kicks, but for the most part, BVB's libero Manfred Binz and his defensive colleagues kept the Spaniards under wraps. Despite their best efforts, the Black & Yellows were unable to break the deadlock, and the goalless draw meant it was Los Blancos who progressed to the final.

Season 2012/13 - Real Madrid

But 15 years later, Borussia got their revenge in the most spectacular fashion. A worldwide audience of millions sat in front of their television screens as the Black & Yellows hosted the biggest club in the world in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League. 65,829 fortunate BVB fans were able to pack into the Dortmund footballing temple for the headline occasion. The atmosphere was electric from the very first second. And it truly took off when Robert Lewandowski gave the reigning German champions a 1-0 lead after seven minutes and 39 seconds. Real then equalised out of nowhere through Ronaldo (43). However, Lewandowski netted a further three times in the second half to fire Borussia into a 4-1 lead. In the closing stages, Roman Weidenfeller made two incredible saves to preserve what looked like a clear advantage on paper, but the end of the second leg proved anything but comfortable.

Madrid kicked off the return leg with an incredible tempo. Wave after wave of attacks rolled towards the BVB goal in the first 15 minutes. But Roman Weidenfeller was in world-class form. As early as the fourth minute, Gonzalo Higuain found himself free in the area, but was unable to get the better of the Dortmund keeper, who then made another superb save to deny Ronaldo from close range in the 13th minute. By the half-hour mark, the Black & Yellows had managed to find their feet in the game and were doing a better job of disrupting Madrid's build-up play. During the half-time break, the groundsmen only watered the areas that Madrid would be attacking. But after coming out from the dressing room, it was BVB who looked more likely to find the opener. A delicate lob from Lewandowski in the 50th minute came back off the crossbar, then Ilkay Gündogan had a chance to put the tie to bed on the hour-mark, only to shoot straight at Madrid keeper Diego Lopez from seven metres out after being teed up by Marco Reus.

Eight minutes before the end, the Bernabeu came to life again, as Karim Benzema thumped the ball into the back of the net from point-blank range. Real now needed two more goals. In the 88th minute, Weidenfeller deflected Benzema's shot out for a corner, and had no chance when Sergio Ramos slammed Benzema's delivery in off the underside of the crossbar to make it 2-0. But the Black & Yellows held firm until the final whistle and were able to celebrate reaching the final.