I don't agree with your rating of Gotze. It wasn't a spectacular game, but it was a very good game. I might change my mind about him playing deeper. When he had the likes of Castro and Sahin, his fantastic touch and close control were wasted. Now with more technical players by his side, he was brilliant at keeping possession, but was able to make a few more runs forward. The midfield 3 were unbelievable yesterday and it was notable that so many chances came from passing it straight through the middle. I am repeating myself, but this CL group has come a bit too early, if we had Weigl and Gotze fit from the start, we probably beat Tottenham.
Gotze did play deep. Look at the pass map and his exchange with Sokratis. Passmaps & xGplot for Dortmund against M'gladbach. #passmap #xGplot #autotweet pic.twitter.com/T81NZ3ylHD— 11tegen11 (@11tegen11) September 23, 2017 First comes stamina and then comes acceleration. He's finally able to play 90 min without a drop in performance. After a few of these, I expect him to be able to start taking on defenders and/or not having to rely on passing and moving to get past defenders. He's an excellent dribbler and we need to see more of that. We need to see this midfield against Real Madrid. Our biggest threat in that match is going to be Yarmolenko.
Sorry I no he played deep, but I meant he was very good there. We absolutely destroyed Gladbach in the middle and Gotze was a big part of that. He is fantastic in tight spaces and you can give him the ball knowing he won't lose it. I was looking forward to seeing that midfield in action and it did not disappoint, especially when you realise that was their first game together.
Looking into match I felt Weigl needs more match sharpness. He lost dangerous ball in first half... Few bad passes from Piszczek. We could have concede from counters by Hazard and Stindl. But I am optimistic about Real.