Ousmane Dembele the difference as Borussia Dortmund down Bayern Munich
With a goal and an assist on Wednesday evening to help Borussia Dortmund beat Bayern Munich 3-2 for a place in May's DFB Cup final, 19-year-old Ousmane Dembele gave yet another five-star example of why he is fast developing into one of the most feared wingers in the game…
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The teenager was so full of beans that he still had the energy to sprint for the team bus, which was ready to take off with the French prodigy having given the press all the time they needed after his man-of-the-match display. Barely half an hour earlier, Dembele had snatched the winner after a Marco Reus-led counter-attack, minutes after teeing up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the equaliser.
"This is the greatest moment of my career," said former Rennes man Dembele, who has enjoyed an outstanding maiden Bundesliga campaign since swapping Brittany for North Rhine-Westphalia, with six goals and 11 assists from his 28 league games to date. "I will not forget that goal!"
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Dembele is learning fast. Bayern earned the spoils the last time the teams met, and a moment of immaturity from Dembele – he ducked out of the way of Robert Lewandowski's free-kick, which made it 2-0 - set the champions on their way to a 4-1 win on Matchday 28.
Not that Thomas Tuchel was worried at the time. "For such a promising player playing here [at the Allianz Arena] for the first time this was an important learning experience," his coach said. "This will also help him for the cup game."
And so it proved, with Dembele's influence turning the tide with 30 minutes left to play. "We scored two great goals and defended with a lot of passion for the whole game," Tuchel enthused. "It feels sensational."
While Tuchel was giving his post-match interview, his players were still in the bowels of the Bavarian venue, celebrating a famous victory.
"Naturally, we celebrated a bit," admitted goalkeeper Roman Bürki, who pulled off some fine saves to deny Lewandowski and Arjen Robben.
"Every win that we get right now feels very good," said Sven Bender – who prevented Robben from converting what looked to be a clear goalscoring chance in the 63rd minute. The emotion after the recent attack on the team bus before the home tie against Monaco in the UEFA Champions League was palpable. "These are just beautiful moments!"
"Of course, nobody wants a situation like that," said Reus, when questioned about the incident that left Spanish defender Marc Bartra with a fractured wrist. "But we had to accept it and move on, and that's what we've done. In the past few weeks, we have really grown together as a team."
"This kind of victory naturally gives us a lot of self-confidence and a lot of confidence for the future," the German international continued, holding in his hands a Dortmund scarf with the inscription: 'Again and again, BVB – DFB Cup final 2017!' – "If you're in the final then of course you want to lift the cup!"
Dortmund will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the showpiece at Berlin's Olympiastadion on Saturday 27 May. It will be their fourth straight final after successive defeats to Bayern, Wolfsburg and Bayern – yet with Dembele in the form of his young life, the team coming together as players and people, and the record champions downed, it wouldn't be safe to best against them.
Maximilian Lotz reporting from Munich/Adaptation by Stuart Telford