Real Madrid gave it a right old go, but fell agonizingly short of completing what would have been a stunning comeback as Borussia Dortmund celebrated their passage to the final of the Champions League at Wembley.
Two goals in the final ten minutes from Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos put Dortmund under immense pressure as Real looked for that elusive third goal, which would have seen them through; but Dortmund held out in the end to win their Champions League semifinal 4-3 on aggregate, despite going down 2-0 in a pulsating second leg at the Bernabeu.
Dortmund were deserved winners over two legs, and it looks like being an all-German final at Wembley now, with Bayern Munich already having a foot-and-a-half in the summit clash. Real were eventually made to pay for their poor performance in the first leg, as they crashed out of in the semifinal stage of the Champions League for the third straight year.
Real started well and were it not for some wasteful finishing or some brilliant goalkeeping from Roman Weidenfeller, they would have definitely been a couple of goals to the good.
The first clear chance fell to Gonzalo Higuain, off a Mesut Ozil through ball, but the Argentine failed to find a way past Weidenfeller, who made a great save with his feet.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the next player to miss a glorious chance, as his shot from seven yards out, off a nice chest down, was again kept out by Weidenfeller.
Soon after, Real should have really been 1-0 ahead, when a nice flick from Higuain put Ozil through on goal. The German, however, chose to take a shot while one-on-one with the keeper, and pulled his shot wide, even though he could have squared the ball across for Ronaldo for a tap-in.
Dortmund were handed an early blow, with influential playmaker Mario Gotze, Bayern Munich bound in the summer, was forced off with an injury with Kevin Grosskreutz coming in as his replacement.
A couple of shots went wide from Real as they cranked up the pressure, but failed to take advantage of their chances, on a night when they really could not afford to.
Slowly but surely, after a frenetic 15 minutes for Real, Dortmund started to settle, slowing the pace down and taking the sting out of the game.
Robert Lewandowski, the man who destroyed Real with four goals in the first leg, was kept relatively quiet, with Sergio Ramos in particular letting the Polish striker know he was in for a tough outing with some physical play, as Jose Mourinho had demanded.
The half ended with Ronaldo firing a freekick, which he practiced quite a bit during the warm-ups, from 35 yards high and wide.
Lewandowski blazed wide from eight yards out soon after kick-off in the second half, before hitting the woodwork a minute later. Marco Reus played through Lewandowski, whose angled shot struck the bar from close-range.
Dortmund had much more of a cutting edge about them in the second 45, as Real went for broke, bringing on Kaka and Karim Benzema for left-back Fabio Coentrao and Higuain respectively.
The away side thought they had scored just past the hour mark, only for Diego Lopez to make a world-class save.
Some nice interplay from Dortmund saw Reus find space inside the box, and find the unmarked Ilkay Gundogan, who was nailed-on to find the back of the net from six yards out. However, Lopez brilliantly anticipated the Dortmund midfielder's intentions, to make an outstanding save and keep Real's slim hopes alive.
Di Maria had a couple of chances at the other end, toe-poking a tame effort, before just failing to get on the end of a Ronaldo header.
In the blink of an eye it showed 75 minutes on the clock, leaving Real needing to find an improbable three goals in the final 15 minutes of play.
It was Dortmund who almost scored yet again though, with Lewandowski finding space inside the box, only for Michael Essien to make a crucial block.
The pulses quickened in the 82nd minute, when Real finally broke the deadlock. Kaka found Ozil on the inside right channel, who in turn crossed low for Benzema to fire home.
Jurgen Klopp sensing the panic creeping into the Dortmund ranks, brought on defensive midfielder Sebastian Kehl for Lewandowski, but Real were relentless. Benzema forced a brilliant save of Weidenfeller, before Ramos found the roof of the net with a stunning left-footed strike in the 88th minute to make it an incredible 2-0.
The home side only needed one goal to go through now, with Dortmund, camped out in their own box, looking to play out five minutes of stoppage time. They did just that, by the skin of their teeth, as Real's epic comeback fell short by a whisker.
