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| | | Brilliant Borussia even thrill Brits | | | | [4.10.] Two points dropped, but international prestige gained. The 47.000-strong crowd in Cityīs stadium was impressed by the German championsī courageous display while the English media hailed goalkeeper Joe Hartīs heroics as a "world-class performance", and so indirectly also praised BVBīs performance. The game received a fantastic 22-percent rating for the TV channel ZDF, with 7.3 million people glued before their televisions sets across Germany | | |  | | Referee Kralovec awards a last-minute penalty to Manchester City. |
They saw one of the most remarkable games in recent football memory - intense and fast-paced, played on the highest level, both technically and tactically. It was an advertisement for football, and still Jürgen Klopp couldnīt completely hide his disappointment. "We already did advertisement for football in Frankfurt." In that game, a 3-3 draw in the Bundesliga last week, BVB were also held to a point.
 | | Have everything under control: Sven Bender (left) and Ilkay Gündogan (right) put in great performances against David Silva and Co. |
This is Borussia Dortmundīs second Champions League campaign after their "new beginning" in 2005, and the traditional German club went into it with two goals in mind: to reach the second round, and to put on a more convincing display than last year when the youngest German champions ever were continually taught a lesson, particularly away from home, for their naïve, yet courageous performances.
"Iīve never seen a team as good as this one here," said an older English gentleman after the game, and gave the team from Germany a well-deserved round of applause before going home. City coach Roberto Mancini admitted: "Dortmund were the better team," and he bemoaned that "against a team like this we need to run more than tonight." City escaped with a fortunate draw, so the general perception in the English media who also admired the work ethics of the Black īnī Yellows.
"We showed that last yearīs Champions League displays fell well short of what we are capable of," said Mats Hummels, and Jürgen Klopp confirmed: "We wanted to show a different side of Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League to the one last year. It was a big step forward."
 | | Hard-fought game: Pablo Zabaleta tackles Robert Lewandowski with a raised foot. |
On Wednesday night, the Czech referee was the difference between a win and a draw for BVB. "Where is Neven supposed to go?" asked Sven Bender, referring to the dubious penalty. "He was just there. From that distance itīs quite normal not being able to react. You donīt have to make this call." For Neven Subotic it "felt like a nightmare", and he summed up his feelings as follows: "I didnīt want to believe it, I couldnīt believe it. What was I supposed to do? Cut off my hand? Itīs very difficult for me to accept this decision." BVB were robbed three points with Balotelliīs final minute penalty goal. "If you want to award it, you can award it," Jürgen Klopp said philosophically.
And so the German champions left the game against the Premier League champions, who remain undefeated at home in Europe since 2008, with a bit of mixed feelings, according to BVB sporting director Michael Zorc: "It was an outstanding game. We really wanted to win the game and would have deserved to win it due to our second half performance. We just failed to add a second."
 | | The approximately 3.000 BVB fans created a fantastic atmosphere. [pictures: firo] |
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