Borussia Dortmund made it a week to forget for Bayern Munich, scripting a 3-2 comeback win at the Allianz Arena to reach the DFB-Pokal final in a thrilling instalment of Der Klassiker on Wednesday night.
Reeling from their unfortunate exit from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid, Die Bayern were desperate to avoid a defeat in Der Klassiker and Carlo Ancelotti sent out his best-possible XI to force the result.
With the notable exception of injured goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, the home side had their full complement of stars as they sought to keep hopes of a league and cup double intact.
It was Dortmund who drew first blood, however, Marco Reus tapping in an empty net in the 19th minute. Raphaël Guerreiro had snatched up Javi Martinez’s lose back-pass and shot past Sven Ulreich only for the ball to bobble off the post before Reus was on hand to finish from two yards out.
The away side should really have been two goals to the good already for Pierre Emerick Aubameyang had missed an absolute sitter in the early stages of the tie. The Gabonese striker just had to get a slight touch on Guerreiro’s cross, but somehow missed the target to give Bayern an initial reprieve.
Bayern were stung into action and responded with goals via their central defenders, Mats Hummels and Javi Martinez, in the first-half itself. Martinez, playing at centre-back after Jerome Boateng had been deemed fit for the bench, redeemed his earlier error when he equalised via a thundering header from Xabi Alonso’s corner in the 28th minute. And former Dortmund defender Hummels then applied a cool first-time finish to Franck Ribery’s low cross to give the host a vital lead going into the interval.
The second period began in the same vein as the first had ended, with Bayern utterly dominant and looking like they would rip apart Dortmund to shreds each time they attacked. However, due to several factors, not least including their profligacy and an inspired Roman Burkl in the Dortmund goal, were unable to find that third goal which would effectively kill the game.
And suddenly out of nowhere, Dortmund equalised via a lightning-quick counter. Ousmane Dembele sent in a cross at the far-post for Aubameyang and the striker didn't miss his target a second time to keep their chances of reaching a fourth consecutive German Cup final alive.
Five minutes later, Die Borussen were ahead, as Dembele showed just what the fuss around him is all about with a brilliant counter-attacking goal. Initially the attack seemed to have fizzled out but as Marco Reus laid it out for him on the right, Dembele faked to shoot with his right and cut in to send in a thundering shot which cannoned off the post to cap a remarkable turnaround.
Bayern and Arjen Robben, were quite unlucky on the night, coming close to scoring on several occasions but could not find a way to force the issue into extra-time.
The entire Dortmund team wildly celebrated after the final whistle and with Eintracht Frankfurt awaiting them in the final, will aim to bring cheer after a difficult period which has seen them exit Europe at the hands of Monaco in a tie which was overshadowed by the attacks on their team bus.
For Bayern manager Carlo Ancelotti, however, the loss may well the death knell after a season which had started to promise so much will leave them with ‘only’ the Bundesliga title. Talk of him being replaced in the summer just won’t go away and while the Bavarians have cantered to the league title, failure in Europe is not looked kindly upon by the ever-demanding Bayern faithful.