FC Bayern tried everything on Wednesday night. When the match official blew for full time the Reds boasted 24 shots to Dortmund's 11, 11 corners to two, 12 crosses to four and had seen 69 percent of the ball. But the figure that matters favoured the away side. The Bavarians lost the DFB Cup semi-final tie 3-2, seeing their dreams of winning the domestic double dashed, whereas Borussia advanced to the final for the fourth time on the bounce.
"It's a defeat that hurts. What we've gone through within one week, Madrid and what happened today, isn't easy to stomach for the team," commented chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after the final whistle. Captain Philipp Lahm spoke of a "huge disappointment" after his 58th and last DFB Cup match. "We had ambitious plans. We wanted to make it to the final. Unfortunately it didn't work out," the 33-year-old added.
Squandered chances
Both teams were looking to attack from the off in an open contest. "It was an outstanding match," said Rummenigge: "The first half was one of the best I've seen at this stadium this season." The 75,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw Marco Reus hand the away side the lead after 18 minutes, but Javi Martínez and Mats Hummels turned the tide before half-time.
"We played very well after the opener, very aggressively," Arjen Robben commented on his team's reaction. However, the Bavarians did not extend their lead. "We failed to score a third after going a goal up. We might well have won the match in that case," explained Rummenigge. "We had enough chances to wrap it up. If you squander your chances you get punished," declared David Alaba.
No time to lick wounds
Rummenigge identified one "key moment" in the match, a gilt-edged chance after 62 minutes, when Sven Bender deflected a Robben effort onto the post. "Had we gone 3-1 up I don't know whether Dortmund would have recovered." But the Ruhr valley outfit fought their way back, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ousmane Dembélé dealing Bayern's hopes of advancing to their 22nd cup final a fatal blow.
"We've carelessly squandered a place in the final," a disappointed Hummels said. "Two defeats, two knockouts - and both unnecessary," Robben commented on the two do-or-die matches against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund within nine days. "If you lose a superb match like this the mood is subdued," Rummenigge revealed after surveying the atmosphere following the final whistle.
However, the Bavarians do not have much time to "lick our wounds," as Rummenigge said, because they return to Bundesliga action on Saturday, when they travel to face Wolfsburg. "After throwing away our chances of winning the cup we absolutely want to seal the championship with a win away to Wolfsburg. We'll do everything to killl off our rivals' faintest hope," declared Hummels.
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