
Champions League Tuesday review: Vinícius Jr. nets hat-trick as Real Madrid makes stunning comeback over Borussia Dortmund
CNN
There is just something about Real Madrid and the Champions League. No matter the opposition, no matter the situation, the Spanish giant usually finds a way to win.
There is just something about Real Madrid and the Champions League. No matter the opposition, no matter the situation, the Spanish giant usually finds a way to win. That was the case yet again on Tuesday as Los Blancos rallied from two goals down to win 5-2 against Borussia Dortmund, inspired by the brilliant Vinícius Jr. In a rematch of last year’s final, Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens had given Dortmund a seemingly comfortable 2-0 lead at half-time, but Madrid emerged a different outfit after the break. “We spoke calmly about how to change things in the second half. I switched the system and the team brought more intensity,” Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti told reporters after the game. “We were too timid in the first half, we didn’t press and allowed them to control it. They get two relatively simple goals and it was obvious what we needed to do. The team did a great job in the second half. This second half was our best of the season.” Despite all the attacking talent at its disposal, it was defender Antonio Rüdiger who got the comeback underway – scoring a 60th minute header from Kylian Mbappé’s cross.
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If you scrunch your eyes up just as an offensive line sets for a play, the outlines of the players look like chess pieces being moved around the board by some invisible hand. Some run in the straight lines followed by a rook, some follow the diagonals of a bishop, and others hold off opponents like a pawn.