Dortmund went close to pulling off one of the great Champions League comebacks last night when they beat Real Madrid 2-0 in Germany.

Unfortunately for last year’s runners-up they fell short on aggregate as they went down 3-2 over the two legs.

Marco Reus scored both goals in the evening for Dortmund as they beat the Spanish giants at home for the second successive season to reward Betfair backers.

Real had the opportunity to score an important away goal early into the tie in the second leg. Fabio Coentrao’s cross was handled by Lukask Piszczek inside the box resulting in a penalty for the visitors. However, Angel Di Maria’s effort was saved by Roman Weidenfellar to keep his side alive.

Reus reduced the deficit to two goals when he took advantage of some poor defending from the nine-time winners of the European competition to delight first goalscorer punters with Betfair.

13 minutes later, Reus doubled his tally to give a Dortmund a good opportunity to become only the second side in the history of the Champions League to overcome a three goal defeat in the first leg of a tie.

Real improved in the second half and had chances of their own through Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, however, Weidenfellar was in good form to keep them out.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan came closest to levelling the two-legged tie on the night which would have forced extra-time, but the Japanese international was kept out by the post.

Real are second favourites in the outright market to win the trophy in Lisbon and will learn their opponents for the semi-final in Friday’s draw.

The Madrid club are still in contention in La Liga too where they are third but only three points off the top of the table. Rivals Barcelona are the favourites to land the domestic crown once again.

Real Madrid’s latest matches have seen them claiming a 3-0 triumph against Levante in the Spanish League and overcoming Schalke 04 with a convincing 6-1 victory during the 1st leg of their Champions League fixture.

The recent series of positive results has allowed Real Madrid on claiming the top spot in La Liga and making their way into the next stages of the Champions League and the even surprised Pepe who stated his appreciation about the performances that his teammates have been making in the last few weeks.

“To be honest, I didn’t think a game like that was possible at this stage of the competition, but we put in a strong performance from the very start and all the goals were well worked. The lads up front did really well, but it wasn’t just them, it was a great performance from the whole team,”

“We’re all physically fit, mentally strong and have the composure to win games like these. That’s what makes the difference at this level.”

The Portuguese defender later went on talking about the chances that Real Madrid has on not only winning the Spanish League but the Champions League and the Copa del Rey as well.

“We need to believe we can win a tenth title. We are working towards that but the truth is we are doing just as well in La Liga as we are in the Champions League. We also have the final of the Copa del Rey to play. We are doing well and we are in our best period of the season.” Pepe told the Spanish media.

Pepe made his way to Real Madrid in 2007 for a price tag of €30 million and ever since arriving to the Santiago Bernabeu he has been a consistent performer for the Spanish club.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has said that he has been extremely happy with the performances of centre backs Sergio Ramos and Pepe in 2014.

Real Madrid did not have the best first half to the campaign after they dropped six points behind leaders Barcelona. However, they have made up a huge points difference in the early part of 2014. This has been largely built on the strong defensive partnership between Ramos and Pepe, which has received the praise of manager Ancelotti.

Since the last time Real Madrid won the league in 2011-12, they have not been top of the table. They did so during the weekend after a 2-0 win over Granada, which also became the record for the most number of consecutive victories by any team in the Spanish league. Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the goals in this victory, but praise was given to the centre back pairing after yet another clean sheet. Despite being top of the table, Ancelotti said that the target remains to win the Champions league this season.
Real Madrid are chasing the elusive 10th European trophy. The club holds the record for having the most number of European titles, which stands at nine. AC Milan closely follow the Spanish Giants with seven titles.

“I have to thank all the players for the record. As I have said many times, my players work very hard to retrieve the ball. In 2014 games, Pepe and Ramos have been perfect. The workrate of everyone has been very good though. We didn’t recover possession well in the first half. We improved in the second half and it was easier to attack. The most important thing is the balance we have at the moment; it’s the key. We defend and attack very well,” said Ancelotti after the win.

The FIFA Ballon d’Or award will be given out on January 13 with Franck Ribery, Lionel Messi and C.Ronaldo being the top candidates on winning the trophy but according to the Portuguese defender of Real Madrid, the player that deserves it more is C.Ronaldo.

He told reporters at a press conference: “Cristiano is the only player who deserves the Ballon d’Or because it’s an individual prize. He is having a great season and a great year.

“It’s the most important thing. Spain won the World Cup four years ago and no Spanish player won the Ballon d’Or. Hopefully he continues helping us as he usually does. Ronaldo always is happy for staying with us again. I hope everything goes well. We want him to help Real Madrid and achieve his own personal marks this year.”

Pepe is a player that throughout his career has received mixed reviews from coaches and players from which he has worked together with. Fabregas complained about the Portuguese defender as the former Arsenal player said that he almost took his legs away when they played during a Clasico back in October of 2013.

“They lost and are looking for an excuse. I should have had a penalty. Pepe took my legs away, but it was not awarded”. Fabregas said.

But other players consider Pepe to be a valuable asset with Raphael Varane having praised Pepe and thanking him for teaching the Frenchman on how to become a better player since arriving to the main team of Real Madrid’’.

“One player who gives me a lot of advice at Real is Pepe. He’s taught me never to give up. He always gives 100 per cent on the pitch and he tries to instil that winning mentality in me’’. Varane stated.