Borussia Dortmund travelled north to Denmark to face FC København in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, and they came away with all three points in a 4-2 victory, thanks to a brace from Felix Nmecha,
a Ramy Bensebaini penalty, and Fabio Silva’s first Dortmund goal.
BVB were largely in control in the first half hour, despite a cagey affair. Nice combinations between Serhou Guirassy and Jobe Bellingham teed up Felix Nmecha to fire home a rocket and give Dortmund the lead 20 minutes into the game, but København levelled things up ten minutes later thanks to a Waldemar Anton own goal. The game opened up at this point, with København giving Dortmund several scares before the break, but BVB reasserted themselves in the second half, and after Bensebaini converted a penalty to give Dortmund the lead, they took over. Chukwuemeka came in after the hour and tore København’s defense apart, even teeing up Nmecha to pick up his second of the night, and then Fabio Silva put the game to bed with an absurdly tight finish right at the end. There was still time for København to pull one back, but the game was as good as over.
The win puts BVB on seven points in fourth place, and they maintain their unbeaten record in the Champions League so far. Dortmund are also the second-highest scorers in the Champions League right now, behind only PSG, having put up an impressive 12 goals in three games. A pretty good palette cleanser after the weekend’s defeat.
Here are our ratings from BVB’s 4-2 win against FC København.
Starting XI
Gregor Kobel
Paul: 6
Zac: 6
Extremely unlucky to be beaten twice, once by his teammate, and once for a goal he basically saved.
Waldemar Anton
Paul: 4
I thought Anton had a pretty rough game. He was a weak spot in possession and, of course, he scored an own goal. I’m not sure how much blame he gets for the own goal, really. It was a bit of a comedy of errors. But it certainly didn’t help Anton’s case.
Zac: 4
Nico Schlotterbeck
Paul: 7
Schlotterbeck was solid in possession throughout the game, helping BVB move the ball up the pitch quickly with his line-breaking passing, but he wasn’t quite as dominant defensively as he was over the weekend.
Zac: 7
They’re saying “he’s him”. Who knows.
Ramy Bensebaini
Paul: 8
Bensebaini came up with several really important challenges in the second half, though København may feel aggrieved that one of them wasn’t given as a penalty. He was a contributor to the calamitous defending for København’s first goal, but he also scored the penalty that put BVB back in the lead.
Zac: 8
Dortmund’s all-purposed defender passed, tackled, and scored at both ends. Well rounded performance.
Yan Couto
Paul: 5
Zac: 5
Not an enormous factor.
Daniel Svensson
Paul: 6
Zac: 6
Jobe Bellingham
Paul: 7
Jobe has come in for plenty of criticism early in his Dortmund career, much of it warranted, but I thought he looked much better against København. He was tidy in possession in the first half, getting the little things right, and impressed himself on the game relatively well in defense. Perhaps his success in the first half, including the assist for Nmecha’s first goal, gave him confidence, because he then opened up a bit in the second half and was a little more expansive.
It wasn’t perfect. There were stretches against København where BVB played a little more compact in their own half, and at these points Bellingham and Nmecha were both far too easy to play through and struggled to break up København’s build-up play (though I’m not sure whether this was Jobe, Nmecha, or a system issue). Still, he picked up an assist and was the orchestrator in BVB’s fourth goal. This was Bellingham’s best performance in a yellow jersey yet.
Zac: 5
Kudos to Kovac for giving Jobe 90 in this match—that was the right move.
Felix Nmecha
Paul: 9
While Bellingham did well operating in a mostly supporting role in midfield, Felix Nmecha took center stage. Nmecha bagged two goals from outside the area, one of them a rocket and the other benefiting from a deflection, and he was pushing the tempo in midfield throughout.
Zac: 9
Nmecha’s long range x-factor is a huge asset for BVB. Moving a defender to cut of his angle gives him a lane to pass in, ignore him and risk conceding.
Julian Brandt
Paul: 5
It was a quiet night for Julian Brandt. He was replaced by Chukwuemeka having failed to impress in the hour he played. Brandt hasn’t played a ton of football recently. Hopefully his minutes in this game will help him brush off the cobwebs.
Zac: 5
Disappointing night for both the secondary attackers, compounded by Chukwuemeka looking absolutely electric.
Maximilian Beier
Paul: 5
Beier also spent an hour on the pitch in København last night, and much like Brandt, he really struggled to get into the game in that hour. He did come very close with a chance in the first half, though.
Zac: 5
Serhou Guirassy
Paul: 7
Guirassy didn’t get himself on the scoresheet but he did well to bring others into the game, and he had a hand in Dortmund’s first two goals.
Zac: 7
For the few minutes he and Silva were on the field together, it actually kind of… worked? They almost found each other a few times, and the defense was unsure which striker to cover.
Substitutes
Fabio Silva
Paul: 7
Picked up his first goal for Dortmund and Fabio Silva looked lively in his half hour cameo. I think his last couple appearances off the bench should have earned Silva more minutes, perhaps even a start.
Zac: 7
If Fabio Silva becomes a regular contributor for BVB, there will not be enough crow in the world for the BVB fanbase to eat.
Julian Ryerson
Paul: 6
Zac: 7
Plus one from me for nearly dragging a defender up the field with him like a backpack.
Carney Chukwuemeka
Paul: 8
Chukwuemeka did what Chukwuemeka does. He came off the bench, toyed with the opposition defense at every given opportunity, and then picked up an assist. He almost came away with a goal of his own too, after a brilliant slaloming run into the København penalty area. If he ever gets healthy enough to play regular football it will be huge for Dortmund. He is a superstar.
Zac: 8
If he had scored that goal…heavens.
Marcel Sabitzer
N/A
Aaron Anselmino
N/A
Overall
Paul: 7
I thought Dortmund’s performance was a bit of a mixed bag, but overall good. When they were in control, they were really in control. But when København pushed higher up the pitch, BVB had a hard time dealing with what was coming their way. Ultimately, they were good value for their win, but it wasn’t without some hairy moments, and some of the individual efforts yesterday evening were a little lacking.
Even so, BVB came away with all three points and a much-needed bounce-back win after the loss against Bayern Munich at the weekend. It’s hard to be too harsh after a solid win that keeps Dortmund undefeated in the Champions League.
Zac: 8
It feels like Dortmund play Copenhagen all the time. Them or Club Brugge. This is, despite the common perception, not an easy team to beat. They’re gritty, they’re winners, and they do not go down without a fight. Putting four goals past a side that has upset Manchester City is not to be scoffed at, and with only 72 hours rest, I think BVB can be really pleased with this performance. Goals from unlikely places only elevates this outcome.
Your Thoughts?
What did you make of Dortmund’s performance in the Champions League on Tuesday? Let us know in the comments.
