Club World Cup 2025: BVB fails in the quarterfinals against Real Madrid

Marcel Sabitzer tore his hair in despair. The Austrian almost saved a largely harmless Borussia Dortmund game against Real Madrid in the last second, sending it into extra time, but a monster save from Thibaut Courtois prevented the Club World Cup from being a surprise. Like Bayern Munich, BVB was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Dortmund's crazy final spurt, with goals from substitute Maximilian Beier (90th+2) following a mistake by Antonio Rüdiger and Serhou Guirassy (90th+8, penalty), came too late. Co-favorites Madrid, with coach Xabi Alonso, prevailed 3-2 (2-0) at MetLife Stadium and will challenge Bayern Munich's conqueror Paris Saint-Germain in the giants' semifinal on Wednesday (10 p.m./Sat.1 and DAZN).

World Cup discovery Gonzalo García (10th minute) with his fourth goal of the tournament, Fran García (20th minute), and substitute superstar Kylian Mbappé (90th +4th minute) ended BVB's eleven competitive unbeaten run. In temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius, Borussia Dortmund had little to counter the quality of the record Champions League winners for long stretches. Only when it seemed all over did Dortmund come back. Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen was sent off before the penalty for a tug on Guirassy, ​​but Sabitzer missed the chance to make it 3-3.

"We didn't give up, that's a good character trait," said national player Waldemar Anton on DAZN: "In the end, it was an incredible save; I could have seen it coming. We had too much respect in the first half. But what matters is that we had the mentality."

0-2 in the 2024 Champions League final, then 2-5 in the league phase – after their recent defeats against Real, Dortmund were looking to turn things around. But coach Niko Kovac was warned. "We know how dangerous this team is," he said, "but we also hope to play our game." How? "Play deep! If you play everything to your feet, you'll have trouble creating chances."

Instead, he included Julian Brandt and Marcel Sabitzer in the team in place of the suspended Jobe Bellingham and the slightly injured Felix Nmecha. While Brandt missed the first chance of the game (6th minute), Sabitzer was supposed to provide "compactness" as a "clear midfielder." But that didn't work, as large holes repeatedly appeared in Dortmund's defense.

Real Madrid took control, and Borussia could barely keep up when Madrid picked up the pace – even though Alonso initially rested some stars like Mbappé. "Dortmund is one of the top teams in Europe and used to going far in the Champions League; it will be tough," the coach predicted, but he was wrong.

With defensive leader Rüdiger in the back three and former Dortmund player Jude Bellingham in midfield, Real dictated proceedings in the best Leverkusen style, as Alonso had planned. Much to the delight of the fans, the vast majority of whom cheered for Madrid.

After several half-chances, Arda Güler was able to cross unhindered – homegrown player Gonzalo García, once again deputizing for Mbappé, fired home the lead with a stunning shot from the six-yard box. His namesake Fran García doubled the lead from six meters following a fierce cross from new signing Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Real Madrid then let their opponents come closer and resorted to lightning-fast counterattacks. Vinicius Junior finished one off after a mistake by Daniel Svensson, but lifted the ball over the goal (40'). Kovac complained: "We're too slow!"

The Croatian was determined to rectify this. His solution: a triple substitution at the restart. Among others, Nmecha came on for Pascal Groß, and Maximilian Beier was brought on to provide pace for the ineffective Karim Adeyemi.

BVB, however, was unable to assert themselves, with Beier's shot (61') easily saved by Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Alonso could even afford to conserve his energy for the clash against PSG, once again in the final stadium of the 2026 World Cup. Rüdiger missed a backheel to make it 3-0 (90'+1') before things got turbulent in the closing stages.

RND/SID