Vinicius scores hat-trick, Real Madrid comes from behind to beat Dortmund

Vinicius’ brilliance helped Real Madrid defeat Dortmund 5-2 at Bernabeu in the early morning of October 23 in the third match of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League group stage.

In a must-win situation, Real Madrid used an attacking lineup with strikers Mbappe, Bellingham, Vinicius and Rodrygo. On Dortmund’s side, important stars such as Brandt, Malen and Sabitzer were all present.

Despite pressing the field, Real Madrid’s attack was quite deadlocked against Dortmund’s tight defense. Dortmund not only defended well but also showed maximum efficiency in taking advantage of opportunities.

Dortmund surprised by leading Real Madrid 2-0 in the first half (Photo: Reuters).

Last season, Dortmund lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final and they studied their opponents carefully. In the 30th minute, starting from a mistake by Vazquez, Malen unexpectedly helped Dortmund take a 1-0 lead.

Having conceded the first goal, Real Madrid played erratically and continued to make mistakes in defense. In the 34th minute, Malen assisted Bynoe-Gittens to double the gap for Dortmund after a cool finish past Courtois.

Luck continued to turn away from Real Madrid, when Vinicius and Bellingham consecutively hit the crossbar in the 37th minute. The first half ended with a surprising 2-goal advantage for the German representative.

The awakening in the second half helped Real Madrid come back to win (Photo: Reuters).

In the second half, Real Madrid pushed their squad to attack but they were still deadlocked in the first 15 minutes of the match. The highlight of the match came in the 60th minute, Mbappe crossed the ball accurately for Rudiger to head the ball into Dortmund’s net, narrowing the gap to 1-2 for Real Madrid.

Exactly 2 minutes later, Vinicius scored the equalizer 2-2 with a close-range finish when Dortmund’s defense made a mistake in marking. Scoring two consecutive goals helped Real Madrid get excited while Dortmund was no longer themselves.

In the 83rd minute, Lucas Vazquez scored to help Real Madrid take a 3-2 lead. Vinicius was the brightest star of the match when he scored 2 more goals in the 86th and 90+3 minutes, completing his hat-trick and sealing a 5-2 victory for Real Madrid.

Vinicius scored a hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 5-2 win (Photo: Reuters).

Real Madrid rose to ninth place in this year’s UEFA Champions League standings , while Dortmund remained fifth behind Aston Villa, AS Monaco, Sporting Lisbon and Arsenal.

Line-up

Real Madrid : Courtois, Mendy, Rudiger, Militao, Vazquez, Modric (Camavinga 71′), Bellingham (Guler 90′), Valverde, Vinicius, Rodrygo (Tchouameni 85′), Mbappe (Ceballos 90′).

Goals: Rudiger (60′), Vinicius (62′, 86′, 90+3′), Vazquez (83′).

Dortmund : Kobel, Bensebaini, Schlotterbeck, Sule, Ryerson (Emre Can 76′), Sabitzer, Nmecha (Beier 76′), Bynoe-Gittens (Anton 55′), Brandt, Malen (Gross 64′), Guirassy.

Goals: Malen (30′), Bynoe-Gittens (34′).