(CNN) -- It was Muhammad Ali who warned his opponents he would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee". Now, perhaps Borussia Dortmund can claim similar after crushing Real Madrid 4-1 in the first leg of its Champions League semifinal Wednesday. Decked out in black and yellow, it swarmed around Real from the start with a buzz and infectious enthusiasm to be marveled at -- but it was left to one man to administer the fatal sting. Robert Lewandowski, the Poland striker, was already one of the most feared forwards in European football before his took the field.
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Borussia Dortmund crush Real Madrid 4-1 in first leg of Champions League semifinal
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Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals for German side
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Cristiano Ronaldo had made it 1-1 three minutes before halftime
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Real host second leg at the Bernabeu next Tuesday
His four goals lit up an extraordinary encounter in which @placeholder went from young pretenders to serious contenders.
@placeholder led the line, a lone warrior refusing to be tamed by a Real defense appearing more and more desperate as the night progressed.