Borussia Dortmund were were the reason for their own demise as after a strong showing, coming from behind twice they lost 3-2 to Hansi Flick’s Barcelona
An even first 45 at the Signal Iduna park. Barcelona had the best chances early on as they repeatedly fizzed the ball across the face of the goal but no player was able to turn it in. Dortmund then began to grow into the game with Julien Duranville particularly impressive. Then as we approached half-time, Dortmund would then have the better chances but none of them were able to truly trouble Inaki Pena in the Blaugrana goal.
The second half was a lot more lively in the first and from how both teams play you would have thought that Barcelona would be the team to be exposed by their high line, but it was Dortmund. One of the most inform players in Europe, Raphinha was played through and slotted past Gregor Kobel to open the scoring. However, the Catalans would not hold the lead for long as Dortmund would win a penalty before being converted by Serhou Guirassy.
Dortmund’s defend would then begin to let them down as Ferran Torres would be left wide open at the back post to tap the ball in following a Kobel fumble, but this time Dortmund would take advtange for Barca’s high line as substitute Pascal Groß played in Guirassy for his and Dortmund’s second of the game. A defensive mix up would then be Dortmund’s downfall. From a corner, Groß’s poorly placed pass and a mix up at the halfway line allowed Barca to counter and have a thread the needle pass from Lamine Yamal, Torres would score what would be the winner.
It is first worth noting that Nico Schlotterbeck was one of Dortmund’s best players this evening and looked like a rock at the back. However, Dortmund’s defence was one of the reasons they lost this game, especially with the third goal coming from a defensive mix up. On top of this, there were times that Dortmund’s full-backs looked like they could not handle Barcelona’s wingers and Bensebaini struggled against Yamal, but lets be honest, who doesn’t.
A big positive to take from this loss was Duranville. The Belgian was thrown in against one of the biggest teams in the world and put on a solid display in the first half. The winger would fade away in the second half but overall a step in the right direction for Duranville.
Gregor Kobel (4), Julian Ryerson (5), Emre Can (5), Nico Schlotterbeck (7), Ramy Bensebaini (5), Felix Nmecha (6), Marcel Sabitzer (5), Julien Duranville (6), Giovanni Reyna (3), Jamie Gittens (5), Serhou Guirassy (7)
Others: Yan Couto (5), Pascal Groß (5), Donyell Malen (5)
GGFN | Jack Meenan
