Many described it as a mission impossible and that was what it turned out to be. This evening, Real Madrid of Spain failed in their quest to advance to the final of this year’s European Champions League after finding visitors Borrusia Dortmund a hard nut to crack.

It was a case of a late rally that was not enough for Jose Mourinho’s men could not erase any of the three goals they owed from the first leg in Germany until the 83^rd minute when they finally found the net, with a second coming in the 87^th.

This night at the Santiago Bernabou, Mourinho unleashed everything in his arsenal but it was all in vain as they could not find the all-important goal that would have erased the 1-4 first leg loss.

With the 2-0 win that left aggregate scores at 3-4, the stage appears set for an all-German final at Wembley on May 25 as Barcelona, the other Spanish club in the semis, face an even more difficult test at home tomorrow against Germany’s Bayern Munich,who won last week Tuesday’s first leg 4-0.

Many had predicted an El Classico, that is, Barcelona versus Real Madrid in the final, but the opposite seems destined to be the case. No wonder why they say that football is no mathematics!

•Photo: For Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid teammates, it’s all over.