Real teach Dortmund expensive lesson

Borussia Dortmund learned the hard way during a painful 1-1 Champions League draw with Real Madrid that passion alone does not win soccer matches.

Dortmund, who seemed to be on their way to taming their prestigious visitors in the Group C match on Tuesday before they conceded a late equaliser, now face a struggle to reach the quarter-finals.

Real, who had needed luck to beat the same opponents 2-1 at Bernabeu last week, also have plenty of work to do, but at least their fate remains in their own hands.

"They taught us a lesson, and it was an expensive one," said Dortmund coach Matthias Sammer, who was awaiting the final whistle when substitute Javier Portillo struck two minutes into stoppage time to earn the title holders a share of the points.

Real, the strongest side in the competition on paper, remain second in the group with five points from four games -- seven fewer than leaders AC Milan, who eased into the last eight with a 1-0 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow on Tuesday.

"We are not through yet but it's not looking too bad," said Real coach Vicente del Bosque, whose team play AC Milan at home next week before finishing with a trip to Moscow.

Since putting together one of the most attractive squads in European club football history, Real have been struggling at times, proving once again that it takes more than a collection of brilliant individuals to build a great team.

But what happened in their last two games against Dortmund suggested that Raul, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and company could step up a gear when they desperately needed to lift themselves out of a tight spot.

"Dortmund played great before the break but in the second half we were clearly the better team," said Del Bosque.

"That goal was deserved and maybe we could have even have won the game.

"Portillo is a great talent," he added, paying tribute to his late substitute for firing home from a Zidane pass to save Real from a defeat that would have seriously dented their hopes.

FURIOUS PACE

Dortmund, who set up a furious pace from kickoff, opened the scoring through Czech striker Jan Koller on 22 minutes and had been resisting bravely under sustained pressure when they tried their luck up front in the dying moments of the game.

It turned out to be a bad idea when striker Marcio Amoroso lost the ball in attack and Real launched a swift counter-attack into a wide open left flank to silence the faithful Dortmund fans.

"Playing well is not good enough when you give away a goal two minutes into stoppage time," said Sammer, whose team are now third in the group and will host Lokomotiv before travelling to the San Siro.

The German champions, who won the Champions League in 1997, can still make it but it will be tough. An elimination would probably mean their season will have been a total failure as they crashed out of the German Cup and trail leaders Bayern by 10 points in the Bundesliga.

Their recent misfortunes added to Germany's woes on the big stage after four times European champions Bayern made a shock first-round exit and last season's finalists Bayer Leverkusen, involved in a battle against relegation at home, dropped out of contention in the second phase.

For the first time in 10 years, there might not be a German club in the last eight of European club soccer's premier event.

Sammer had said before Tuesday's game that Dortmund did not only want to stay on course for the knock-out stages but were also on a mission to show how strong the club game in Germany really is.

Pretty good but not good enough, was the verdict.