Dortmund’s first foray against World Class opposition this season (Sorry St. Pauli) is a lesson on what the team is good at and what the team is very, very bad at. On one hand, Borussia Dortmund scored four goals against a competent defense. The goals came from all of the field and highlight how Kovač’sside has found its lethality after Sahin’s tenure stripped away most of the team’s creativity. On the other hand, Dortmund have conceded buckets of goals once again. This should have been a convincing
win against a premier side, but Dortmund showed its naivety again and conceded two late goals for the second time in four games.
Here are our ratings:
Starting XI
Gregor Kobel
Patrick: 7
Kobel made two crucial saves in the 3rd and 80th minutes of this match. Which, considering the scoreline, is pretty damning on our defense. It would be difficult to blame the Swiss keeper for any of Juventus’s goals, and he should be furious at his defenders.
Paul: 7
I don’t think Kobel was responsible for any of the goals, and he made several solid saves earlier in the game.
Ramy Bensebaini
Patrick: 4
Bensebaini is the player to watch in the last 10 minutes of this match – for all the right and wrong reasons. He shocked everyone by taking and converting Dortmund’s penalty instead of Guirassy. He proceeded to cause trouble for Juventus’s third goal with his nonchalant play out the back that gifted possession. Bensebaini then capped off the night by ball-watching Juventus’s equalizer.
Outside of those 10 minutes, the Algerian was just like the rest of the defense.
Paul: 5
Waldemar Anton
Patrick: 2
Played Vlahovic on for the second goal. Got caught unaware for the third. Failed to pressure for the final one. Not what you want to see from the only center-back on the roster!
Paul: 3
Multiple errors contributed to Juventus getting back into this game again and again. Seemed to be involved in almost all their goals.
Julian Ryerson
Patrick: 5
Julian Ryerson was one of the key players in the center-back as Juventus looked to abuse Dortmund’s right flank, but the Norwegian did well. He is just as culpable as anyone else in the defense after that second-half performance, however.
Paul: 6
Daniel Svensson
Patrick: 3
Svensson often felt like a non-entity in this match in the worst way possible. In the second half, Juventus found success behind Svensson and created their two extra-time goals on Dortmund’s left flank. On the offensive side of the ball, Svensson had the least amount of touches amongst Dortmund’s starting XI and racked up the lowest distance covered with the ball at his feet.
Paul: 5
Seemed to struggle in defense a fair bit.
Yan Couto
Patrick: 8
Maybe I’m still too early, but Couto has cemented his place in this team. He was dynamic with the ball and got his goal to show for it.
Paul: 8
Looked solid in possession and was a solid creative outlet, particularly in the second half. Got a little lucky that the keeper didn’t do better with his long-range effort.
Felix Nmecha
Patrick: 8
Nmecha’s ability to shoot from distance is such a boon to Dortmund’s offense because few players on this team are accurate from long range. Nmecha was certainly the engine room in this game for Dortmund and used his physicality to contest Koopmeiners and Thuram-Ulien.
Paul: 8
Marcel Sabitzer
Patrick: 7
Sabitzer did well to win possession before assisting Couto and spent most of the game looking for passes into Juventus’s defensive third. It was ultimately a very professional performance from the Austrian.
Paul: 6
Karim Adeyemi
Patrick: 9
Adeyemi stole the show in Turin. For Dortmund, Adeyemi was constantly dangerous. Not only was he always a threat to run off a defender’s shoulder, but he also found success driving into the heart of Juventus’s defense. His goal was extremely well taken considering the traffic around him, and Adeyemi was constantly drawing defenders to him. Overall, an outstanding performance by Karim.
Paul: 9
Maximilian Beier
Patrick: 6
Paul: 7
I thought Beier was solid, and his hard work paid off in the second half.
Serhou Guirassy
Patrick: 6
Guirassy did well to earn the penalty and keep defenders busy. Guirassy is fantastic at dropping back to play alongside Dortmund’s midfield. He should have done more with the chances he had and was denied from 6 yards out by Di Gregorio. Still, the Guinean now has a goal involvement in every match this season!
Paul: 7
Substitutes
Jobe Bellingham
Patrick: 5
Paul: 6
Julian Brandt
Patrick: 5
Eight touches in 20 minutes is pretty poor for a creative midfielder when Dortmund is trying to control the game. What’s worse is that most of Brandt’s touches were poor.
Paul: 5
He was heavily involved in the buildup to BVB winning a penalty, but it seemed like it was largely despite his poor touch that they still came away with something. Multiple bad touches and slow to respond when Bensebaini gave the ball away for Juventus’s third.
Pascal Groß
N/A
Overall
Patrick: 6
I am cautiously optimistic after this game. Borussia Dortmund entered a tough away fixture with just one center-back on the roster and scored four goals. Sure, the finishing from both sides was genuinely mind-blowing, but the team’s ability to score should not be understated. The club now has twelve goals in all competitions after only four games. The other side of the pitch is where the problems are. The defense looked paper-thin throughout this match and managed to concede at every critical moment.
Paul: 5
Do we give credit for the Dortmund side that scored four, or the Dortmund side that gave up two leads and conceded four? It’s remarkable how easily this team can swing from good to bad, and how quickly a solid performance can come apart at the seams. I’m giving a give because, in reality, a point away from home is pretty solid. But the performance was incredibly frustrating and it shows that Kovač still has a lot of work to do to get this team to not be dumb at every given opportunity.
