Schuerrle strikes late as Dortmund deny Real

Andre Schuerrle rescued Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday with an 87th-minute equaliser to seal a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid and deny the Spaniards a rare Champions League win in Germany.

Real were minutes from a first win in Dortmund in six attempts, and the result means the Spanish giants have won only four times in 30 away games against German clubs.

Madrid took the lead when Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 95th Champions League goal early on.

Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was credited with the equaliser just before the break after a deflection off Raphael Varane.

But the French international enjoyed second-half redemption when he stabbed home on 68 minutes before Dortmund levelled in the dying stages.

Ronaldo had been left fuming after being substituted by Real coach Zinedine Zidane for the final 20 minutes of Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Las Palmas in La Liga.

And the superstar chose to celebrate his goal at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park with his Portugal team-mates Fabio Coentrao and Pepe, who were on the Real bench, with Zidane in the background.

Dortmund dominated the opening quarter of an hour before Ronaldo’s opener and both goalkeepers were tested in the first five minutes.

Matthias Ginter gave away a free-kick just outside the area and Ronaldo’s powerful shot was blocked by Dortmund shot-stopper Roman Burki.

At the other end, Gonzalo Castro’s well-struck shot tested Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who was making his first appearance of the season after injury.

Ronaldo was lucky that the referee failed to spot his clear handball from an Aubameyang free-kick shortly after, and teenage French winger Ousmane Dembele then fired over.

But Real took the lead when Ronaldo finished off a sweeping move.

Luka Modric and Karim Benzema combined to get the ball out of their own half.
When the ball was played into the Dortmund area, James Rodriguez fed Gareth Bale who played the ball back between his legs for Ronaldo to sweep his shot home on 17 minutes.

At the other end, Aubameyang clipped the bar and was pulled up for offside on 29 minutes before a bullet header from defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was too close to Navas.

But Dortmund kept up the pressure and drew level on 43 minutes when Navas opted to punch out a Raphael Guerreiro free-kick. The ball rebounded into the net off the unfortunate Varane with Aubameyang in close proximity, although the Gabon striker was officially given the goal.
The equaliser was lucky, but it was no more than Dortmund deserved.

Just before the half-time whistle, Ronaldo’s header hit the back of the Dortmund net, but the flag went up for offside.

Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel introduced Schuerrle for Germany’s World Cup-winner Mario Goetze on 58 minutes in what proved to be an inspired switch.

Real took the lead a second time when Varane followed in to score after a Benzema attempt had struck the post and the bar.

But Dortmund were not done, and when Aubameyang’s attempt at an overhead kick distracted Danilo, the ball brushed off his chest and into Schuerrle’s path as the Germany winger fired home the equaliser.