Freshly showered and grinning, Cristiano Ronaldo was the first player to make his way through the mixed zone to speak to the waiting media in the wake of the 2-2 (1-0) draw between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. "CR7" had nothing to say on this occasion and looked disappointed with the result, which moved BVB into top spot at Los Blancos' expense in a repeat of the 2012/13 group stages.

Georg Heymann reporting from Madrid

Ronaldo himself had three opportunities to score at the Bernabéu on Wednesday, first shooting narrowly wide on the stroke of half-time (43) before being denied in spectacular fashion by Roman Weidenfeller (69) and hitting the upright on the 78-minute mark. It turned out to be an evening to forget for the Portuguese, whose kick out at Marcel Schmelzer in the first period went unpunished. For the first time in his career, "CR7" has now failed to find to find the net in four consecutive UEFA Champions League matches.

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To a certain extent, the Black and Yellows showed what is possible in Madrid or, at the very least, where Los Blancos are vulnerable. The hosts might have carved out 11 chances – compared to a respectable eight for the visitors – but they simply couldn't add a third after a brace from Karim Benzema (28, 53) had put them 2-0 ahead. "Real missed the chance to finish the game off," said Sebastian Rode after the match.

Having made a bright start, Thomas Tuchel felt Borussia "lost their feel for the game by making simple mistakes". On a tactical level, the ploy of pushing Marcel Schmelzer into attack didn't quite come off as his marker Lucas Vásquez remained high up the pitch in anticipation of counter-attacking opportunities. BVB reshuffled and "Schmelle" took a more defensive role. "We wanted to play it safe in that respect," the captain said. "From that point onwards we were still lacking accuracy but we had a foot in the door again," analysed Thomas Tuchel.

Even at 2-0 down (53) – Weidenfeller had made a spectacular save to deny Benzema seconds earlier – BVB did not let their heads drop, putting in a disciplined performance and getting their reward when Weigl played a dream pass in behind the defence for Schmelzer to set up Aubameyang to pull it back to 2-1 (60).

"A good match between two very good teams"

"It was a good match between two very good teams," said Madrid's Toni Kroos. The Black and Yellows needed a little bit of luck between the 69th and 79th minutes to "survive" a spell in which Real went into the ascendancy, creating five chances, but it was Borussia who had the final say. "In the second half Madrid had some big chances and Roman Weidenfeller made some world-class saves. We had hoped that we would still be able to hit them late on – and that's what happened," explained Marco Reus.

Substitute Reus had scored the equaliser himself (88), sealing top spot in the group for BVB and setting a new record at the same time. Never before in the history of the UEFA Champions League has a team scored 21 goals in their six group-stage matches. It meant even more attention for Reus, for whom the leveller was a fourth goal in as many games since returning after six months out injured.

"Roman Weidenfeller saved brilliantly"

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, both a goalscorer and provider at the Bernabéu, is another who could take pride in his role in securing a 2-2 draw. But Emre Mor deserved praise too. The 18-year-old, who came off the bench for Pulisic in the 61st minute, won the ball back from Marcelo in the 88th minute and quickly played the ball down the right as BVB began the move that led to the equaliser.

"Emre was crucial in our equaliser. It was super play from him. He worked well in defence today and rewarded himself and us by winning the ball back before the equaliser."

Meanwhile, it was the first time since 22 October 2002 that Real Madrid had thrown away a two-goal lead at the Bernabéu in the UEFA Champions League. AEK Athens managed it that day. Now, 14 years on, the evening belonged to another team in Black and Yellow.