Dortmund demonstrated early on that they were content to get the ball down and attack, and while their illustrious opponents grew into the game as expected, the visitors initially defended stoutly.
Ultimately, it wasn’t a huge surprise when Dortmund went ahead on the half-hour mark, as a patient passing move saw Ramy Bensebaini play a lovely reverse ball to Donyell Malen.
The Dutchman initially gave away possession, but Julian Brandt won it back and fed Serhou Guirassy, who held it up and then gorgeously slipped in Malen, who fired in to stun the Santiago Bernabéu faithful.
Not long afterwards, it was 2-0. Dortmund switched play to the right flank, and Malen took on Ferland Mendy before squaring perfectly for the arriving Jamie Gittens, who coolly applied the finishing touch.
Real Madrid knew that they had a real game on their hands at that point, with former Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham wasting a glorious chance to halve the deficit as his tame header from Vinicius Junior’s inch-perfect cross fell into the grateful gloves of Gregor Kobel.
Bellingham was then despairing moments later, having thundered a shot against the bar after Rodrygo had also just hit the woodwork.
At the other end, Brandt’s long-range piledriver forced an excellent fingertip save from Courtois as half-time beckoned, and despite their brilliance, Dortmund would’ve been braced for a ferocious response after the break.
Real duly got one back on the hour as Kylian Mbappe’s teasing cross was powered in by Antonio Rüdiger.
And no sooner had that happened, Los Blancos were level as the evergreen Luka Modric slipped in Mbappe, who was challenged superbly by Nico Schlotterbeck, but the ball ran to Vinicius for him to tuck home to deafening roars.
Carlo Ancelotti then looked to freshen up his team by bringing on Eduardo Camavinga for Modric and having withstood immense pressure, Dortmund buckled on 83 minutes as Lucas Vazquez lashed in after latching onto a loose ball, just after Courtois had denied Maximilian Beier with lightning-fast reflexes.
And Vinicius rounded off the victory in style, embarking on a wonderful solo run before cutting infield and scoring with aplomb, and sealed his hat-trick with a devastating close-range strike in stoppage-time.
Real are now level on points in the Champions League table with Dortmund and will now be on cloud nine heading into Saturday’s mouthwatering meeting with Barcelona, while Nuri Sahin’s men must pick themselves up ahead of a trip to Augsburg the same day.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)