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Dortmund notches Europa League spot despite defeat to Real Madrid

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Borussia Dortmund has mitigated a continental disaster, booking a Europa League spot despite a 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

A Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang brace on either side of the interval was enough to secure third place, narrowly beating out Cypriot minnow APOEL, who slumped to defeat against Tottenham at Wembley.

Peter Bosz's BVB entered the day knowing that Spurs had already secured Group H honours, with Real Madrid joining the north London lot in the Round of 16, but for the Bundesliga behemoth accustomed with continental progression, a fourth-placed finish would have amounted to a shock catastrophe.

For the majority of the first half, it looked like Dortmund would face disaster head on after Borja Mayoral and Cristiano Ronaldo gave the host an early two-goal advantage. All the while APOEL - who entered the day level with the Germans - made a good account of itself at Tottenham's temporary digs. A debut goal for Fernando Llorente and a Heung-min Son tally in a 3-0 win crushed the APOEL hopes. First-team outcast Georges-Kevin NKoudou belatedly opened his Spurs account with 10 minutes to go to cement a result that was hardly in question.

Lucas Vazquez cemented the win for Real nine minutes from time, but by then, Dortmund's Europa League fate was sealed.

Dormund joins a stacked Europa League last-32 stage, while Spurs and Real will await Monday's Champions League draw to determine their respective knockout phase opponents.

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