Borussia Dortmund have qualified for the last 16 of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League as group winners thanks to a 2-2 (1-0) draw away to Real Madrid. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus scored the goals in the Spanish capital that took BVB into top spot at the reigning champions' expense.

Boris Rupert reporting from Madrid

Borussia got a lot, though admittedly not everything, right in front of an 81,000 crowd at the Bernabeu. After a misplaced pass in midfield had allowed Benzema to score a goal that hadn't really been on the cards (28), Dortmund had four clear chances to equalise before conceding another from the Frenchman against the run of play (53). Aubameyang then pulled a deserved and overdue goal back on the hour mark before Reus latched onto the Gabon forward's cross two minutes from time to equalise and win the group for Borussia!

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Christian Pulisic was named in the starting XI.

The scenario:  
"We want to win the match and the group," Madrid veteran Sergio Ramos announced before the game with his side trailing group leaders Borussia Dortmund by two points. The Spaniards, who were looking to extend their impressive home streak (eight consecutive wins in Europe's elite club competition), had won 28, drawn three and lost one of their previous 32 Champions League matches at the Bernabeu. Borussia Dortmund, who had claimed seven wins from their last ten away outings in Europe, travelled to Madrid aiming to pick up at least a point to finish top of their group. "That would top off this outstanding opening round. It would be the icing on the cake," said Sporting Director Michael Zorc.

Personnel matters: 
Real were without forwards Bale and Morata but Casemiro and Kroos recovered from injury problems to make the starting XI and the bench respectively, while Bürki, Guerreiro, Sahin, Götze, Kagawa and Bender were missing for BVB. The visitors made three changes to the team that beat Gladbach 4-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday, bringing in Weigl, Pulisc and Schürrle to replace Sahin (injured), Ginter and Reus (minor illness).

Tactics:  
Borussia took to the field in a highly flexible 4-2-3-1 formation against the Spaniards, who opted for the broad frontline and packed central midfield of a 4-3-3 system. Schmelzer looked to get forward when the visitors had the ball (Schürrle would then shift inwards slightly towards Dembélé) as BVB's formation switched to a 3-2-4-1. Without the ball they reverted to a 4-3-3 system in which Schürrle, Dembélé and Aubameyang (mostly on the right) were the first line of defence. Pulisic would then drop back from the right flank to a more defensive centre-right position to pack the midfield alongside Weigl and Castro (centre-left), with Schmelzer falling back to transform the back three into a back four in a versatile system that left himself and youngster Pulisic with the most tactically demanding jobs to perform. 

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The excellent Weidenfeller was left with no chance as Benzema opened the scoring for Real.

The match & analysis:
The Black and Yellows initially surprised Los Blancos with the flexibility of their play and had the first chance of the match when a poor clearance from Casemiro landed at the feet of Schürrle, whose effort from a central position 18 metres out flew narrowly over (4).

However, poor passing caused unnecessary problems for the visitors. All too often, the ball would be given away on the half-way line with acres of space down the Borussia left because Schmelzer – as per his instructions – had already pushed forward into attack. Overlapping right-back Carvajal took advantage of this abundance of space in the 28th minute to play a highly dangerous ball into the middle that fizzed past Bartra and Sokratis to Benzema, who had an easy tap-in from the edge of the six-yard box. Weidenfeller, who had previously done well to deny Benzema (10) and made an excellent save from James after the Colombian was played in by Ronaldo (18), never had a chance.

BVB squander big chances to equalise

Borussia had more of the ball in the closing stages of the first half (52%) – as well as three clear-cut chances to level. But Dembélé, who had been fed by Pulisic, failed to beat Navas from a centre-right position in the 38th minute before Schürrle came close from a free-kick 20 metres out a minute later. The midfielder threaded his set-piece through the gap in the wall but was denied by Navas, whose finger-tip save turned it around the post for a corner. BVB subsequently had two counters with superiority in numbers but couldn't see them through (42, 45).

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It was more of the same from Borussia after the interval at the Bernabeu. The first action came when Dembélé weaved through the defence and, despite initially seeming to lose the ball, toe-poked a shot goalbound from 14 metres out that went narrowly wide (49). Then, seconds later, Pulisic pulled the ball back from the byline to the six-yard box, where the onrushing Castro was thwarted by Casemiro at the crucial moment.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back to make it 2-1.

Real, on the other hand, had hardly any clear sight of goal between Benzema's 28th-minute opener and the 53rd minute, when the Frenchman surfaced unmarked but was denied a second thanks to outstanding agility from Weidenfeller. However, the veteran custodian had little time to bask in the glory of the moment: Real regained possession, and James crossed into the box for an unmarked Benzema to head home.

It took only seven minutes for BVB to pull one back following a wonderful move! Weigl played a lofted pass over the top of the Real rearguard to the onrushing Schmelzer on the left-hand side of the box and, with Marcelo still appealing for offside, he cut the ball back brilliantly for Aubameyang to finish coolly from five metres (60). Minutes later it was almost 2-2 but Aubameyang couldn't get on the end of a cross from Mor, who had previously been introduced along with Reus in place of Schürrle and Pulisic.

Weidenfeller delivers world-class performance

At the other end the outstanding Weidenfeller kept his side in the game with yet another spectacular save to deny Ronaldo in the 69th minute, before Reus cleared the ensuing corner off the line following Benzema's header. Marcelo then missed from a counter (74) and Ronaldo hit the post (78) as Real began to enjoy the better of the chances in the final 20 minutes and looked more solid at the back. But it was BVB who had the final say two minutes from time when Mor played the ball down the right to Aubameyang, who sped away before fizzing it across the face of goal for Reus to slot home and level the score at 2-2!

Prospects: 
The draw for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League will be conducted next week, on Monday 12 December. For BVB, the trip to the Spanish capital was the first of three consecutive away fixtures. Next up for the Black and Yellows is a trip to Cologne on Saturday (15:30 CET), before they travel to Hoffenheim on Friday 16 December.

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