2018-19 UEFA Champions League Group Stage Matchday 5: Borussia Dortmund vs Club Brugge KV

i think we can win this one easier than last.. but Atl is already up 1-0 over Mon

 

Bürki
LP Akanji Zagadou Diallo
Witsel Dahoud
Pulisic Reus Guerreiro
Alcacer

Looks like Hakimi gets a rest as the only defender on the bench.

 

So war is been "blahhh"

 

Tough game against a team that defends with all men. I think it's a bit odd that we don't use the wingers to either stretch their defense or have an outlet in open space. Instead we rather congest the space in a region around the middle with all our offensive guys close together. That makes it more challenging to send a player through with enough space. It's rather our FBs who try to find that space on the outside.
Their keeper seems quite weak as well which is another reason to send in more crosses.

 

Dahoud, Witsel, Paco, Reus, and Guerreiro are occupying each other's space making it a lot harder to do anything against a defensive bunker

 

Favre takes his time with the subs. I'd like to see Sancho coming in. Brugges might be getting tired as well. Some of their clearances are like a hockey team playing a man down.

 

Oh damn, you don't want to see Witsel on the floor holding his knee. It's always a worry when you come down from a jump with a straight leg. All that tension on the ligaments is not good.

 

Boring game but lol at Brugge playing for a draw when they still had the chance to reach the knockout stages and when third place was already secured for them. We'll end up in second place unless Madrid loses points against them as well.

But we have to find solutions for games like this. Freiburg will be very similar and they'll have a better keeper.

 

So very true. I was sure Favre kept telling Raphael to go out wide.

Reus and Pulisic should have scored, but it was a toothless attacking performance.

A really, really poor game from Raphael tactically. I don't see why he is so popular here. Pulisic did better, but still not good enough.

We missed Hakimi and Sancho badly. Witsel looks tired.

I keep saying we need a quality left winger this season. Reus had a poor performance, though he worked hard defensively and the team looked toothless. I know Sancho wasn't playing.

We will now have to get through the CL the hard way. We are likely to get Barcelona, City, PSG, Juventus or Porto next round. If we are very, lucky we get Porto.

 

That was not only disappointing but fatal for our cl aspirations. I'm sure we will bear Monaco but should Atletico get three more points against these bus drivers we will be up against Barca, Madrid, City, PSG, Juventus in the next round.

Liverpool and Tottenham are still in the running.

 

The attack just doesn't have the quality required. For me our wingers are by far the weakest area of the team. Reus' ridiculous form has hid a lot. The other areas of the team are solid and we can cope with injuries.Even Gotze playing upfront is not too bad.

Raphael either plays left back or he can be sold. He is not even a good defensive winger.

 

Of winning we never had much chance, but making the quarters means more money and more prestige for the club to build on next season.

Perhaps we would have topped the group and gotten Napoli/PSG and perhaps we will now get Porto. If things finish how they are likely to end up, then our most likely opponent will be Juventus.

 

I think the best winger activity was when Reus remembered he was one once and made that run to the line and got that cross in. But the whole setup today made it tough for the wingers to be actual wingers. They didn't look for the space on the wings, they just made it crowded in the center. With top class players who can combine with no space and who played together for years, it may work. But today we made it too easy for Brugge to defend.

 

From watching on TV, I think this is actually the opposite of what Favre told them to do. He seemed to be telling Pulisic and especially Raphael to stay out wide, but then they would keep coming in. Favre is tactically astute and he was not trying to create space for Diallo and LP out wide.

I could be wrong, but there was a point in the first half where he got up very angrily and Raphael actually stayed wide for a bit, which was our most dangerous period in the half.

Without great attacking full backs and a big striker we just killed the space. It was like watching Germany, but that's actually Loew's tactics. I expect Sancho and Larsen to both be in the team. Larsen may not be the the greatest talent, but he does what he is told.

 

Yeah, good point. Sancho did actually interpret his role differently than Rapha and Pulisic.

 

Sancho needed to do better with that chip in to him. Didn't he see Stindl's strike? CP did the Hazard part. Volley those, baby, if Stindl can do it, you can to! ;-)

And was Brugge's keeper really noticeably weak? That is an interesting comment.

The B/R app makes it so hard to re-watch the last 30 seconds, so it is hard to make solid conclusions about what was available, but definitely BVB is much worse against a packed box. The interplay needs running and some space, and when the defenders stay home, you have to find some magic. CL advancement is now in the bag, and as long as Witsel isn't hurt, I'll take that.

 

BVB created a lot of chances in the box and should have finished at least one, but I'm not sure Favre really thought things through by playing Raphael and Pulisic in front of Diallo and Piszczek. CP looked better and Diallo should be credited for his attacking effort, but toppling the bus requires higher quality width and better combination play in the central space. As a result the attack became predictable and Guerreiro/Pulisic/Reus didn't show up much in the half spaces to destabilize the defense. This is where you could use Götze or even Kagawa to combine quickly with Reus/Paco, as well as one more top-level winger. The team is missing at least one more major attacking piece.

The roster is well stocked in most positions, but the management needs to pull off one solid move in the upcoming window in order to make a deep CL run and provide insurance for Paco, Reus, and Götze's physical uncertainties. Cleaning up the roster is fine too - loan out Isak and Toljan, swindle Stuttgart into taking Rode, get a modest fee from Spain for Kagawa - but I would say they are correct to put off the Pulisic decision until summer.

 

No powerhouse has had a perfect record home and away this season. City drew Lyon twice. Juventus and Barcelona would be bad draws and even they have lost at home.

 

Criticism of LF for team selection is easy after the fact. If Raphael didn't play, we'd all be clamouring that we didn't let the most dangerous BVB player in the competition not start against Brugge in a must win.

If Götze played, we'd say he needs rest.

However, he's got his tactics wrong. Raphael is not a winger or a CM. He's a LB or LWB who can ghost in centrally and cause overloads. That's how he has scored goals against Bayern and Atletico.

He could have let DAZ sit this one out and let Diallo play in the middle where he's our best CB at moving the ball forward.

He should have let Max play on the wing who is a legit goal threat from that side.

Apart from that Dahoud disappointed. He spent a lot of time with the ball and didnt take the ball forward as often.

And now unless Brugge does us a favour, we are going to be facing Barca, City and Juventus, maybe even Liverpool. I'll take Real, PSG or Napoli over those any day but this was avoidable.

 

Wait what? Raphael is no where even close to the most dangeros BVB player. I certainly wouldn't care if he played. I didn't have a problem with the line up, because I assumed Favre was giving the first choice wingers a rest. The second choice should have played.

Again where are you getting this from? Alcacer is the better striker by far and is the one that needs resting. Not playing Gotze is playing our strongest team.

I think he was let down by wingers who failed to follow instructions and a general sub-par performance it happens.

I agree Philipp deserves a chance on the wing, but Favre really does not rate him it seems.

Dahoud did fine. It's not his fault the wingers came in and made it impossible for any space to be found. Brugge defended well too. Dahoud might have been slightly more adventurous, but learning to reign it in, is precisely what he needs to do.

Favre is doing an exceptional job with the squad quality he has.