FOR a few minutes there was a groundswell of belief in the Bernebeu.
With the clock running down, Real Madrid had reduced their arrears to within one goal of securing a Wembley trip and were laying siege to Dortmund's defence. As the referee prepared to blow his whistle for the final time on the night, Cristiano Ronaldo tumbled theatrically to the ground in the penalty area. It was his, and Real Madrid's, last act in the drama of this season's Champions League.
Whether the curtain also falls on Jose Mourinho's adventure in Madrid will be played out in the summer. The Barclays Premier League is calling and the Portuguese dropped the strongest hint yet last night that he may leave at the end of the season after a poor Primera Liga campaign. He has consistently skirted questions regarding his future, but when asked if he would remain for next season he replied: "Maybe not." He then added: "I don't know, but I want to be where people love me to be."
He may, indeed, have a date in London with Chelsea but it is Dortmund, European champions in 1997 in their only appearance in the final, who will be making the journey first on May 25.
Dortmund were not the thunderous team that delighted fans around the world with last week's performance, but they produced a disciplined showing, with their centre-back pairing Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic particularly impressive.
Leading 4-1 from the first leg, the Germans were all but over the line when the Real substitute Karim Benzema scored from close range in the 83rd minute, and when Sergio Ramos struck five minutes later, the home fans went wild in the packed stadium.
"They really put pressure on us and we let in two goals towards the end and then it really became tense," said the Dortmund substitute Kevin Grosskreutz. "But we have a great squad, super fans and we just deserved to go through."
Ramos, the Real defender, said the result was a "shame".
"You can lose, and football is like that, but when you lose it should be with this version of Real Madrid. If we had come out playing like we did tonight in Dortmund things would be very different."
With Spanish King Juan Carlos watching from the VIP tribune and chants of "Yes we can" echoing around Real's giant arena, the home supporters unveiled an enormous mosaic depicting the Champions League trophy before kickoff.
Nine-times European champions Real were fired up and took the game to Dortmund early on and Gonzalo Higuain drew a smart save from Roman Weidenfeller in the fourth minute.
Dortmund looked nervous but while also managing to get forward and Robert Lewandowski, who scored all four of the German side's goals last week, volleyed straight at Diego Lopez in the 13th minute.
Ronaldo had an almost identical chance moments later which Weidenfeller again did well to keep out.
After Dortmund playmaker Mario Goetze was forced off injured in the 14th minute, his Germany team-mate Mesut Ozil had a golden chance to open Real's account when he was clean through on goal but his low strike flew narrowly wide of the post.
With Dortmund pressuring the Real players and denying them time on the ball, the home support began to get restless.
Dortmund had two chances early in the second period and both fell to Lewandowski. The Poland forward struck a wild shot over the bar in the 49th and then raced clear onto a Marco Reus pass a minute later but smashed his effort against the crossbar.
Mourinho made a double substitution in the 57th minute when Benzema and Kaka replaced Higuain and Fabio Coentrao but it was Dortmund who were looking the more threatening.
Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez somehow managed to scramble across to deny Ilkay Guendogan who had the goal at his mercy and Lewandowski's shot was blocked by Michael Essien in the 76th.
Ozil crossed for Benzema to give Real a sliver of hope seven minutes from time and Ramos then smashed the ball into the roof of the net to set up a frantic finale, but it was all too late.
"We had a lot of chances in the first half to take the lead that we didn't take and in the end we didn't make it." added Ramos.
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