Having suffered a 4-0 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal clash with Barcelona in Spain, Borussia Dortmund tried very hard to produce a historic comeback triumph at the Signal Iduna Park – and failed, despite putting in a top-class performance.
The hero for the Bundesliga side was Serhou Guirassy, who found the opposition net three times – in the 11th minute from the spot, in the 49th, and the 76th, but the hopes of his team took a significant and ultimately dooming blow in the 54th, when Ramy Bensebaini placed the ball in his own net.
Teams
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac had to pick his team to try and turn this difficult tie around without counting on Nico Schlotterbeck, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marcel Sabitzer and Emre Can.
With Gregor Kobel in goal, the trio of Niklas Sule, Waldemar Anton and Bensebaini formed the back line. Felix Nmecha and Pascal Gross paired up in the middle of the park, flanked by wing-backs Daniel Svenson and Yan Couto, while up front, Guirassy had Maximilian Beier and Karim Adeyemi in support.
As for Barcelona, boss Hansi Flick was without the services of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casado and Marc Bernal.
With Wojciech Szczesny in goal, centre-backs Pau Cubarsi and Ronald Araujo were flanked by Jules Kounde and Gerard Martin. Gavi joined Frenkie de Jong in the middle of the park, while the trio of Raphinha, Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal played behind former Dortmund hitman, Robert Lewandowski.
Match recap
Few gave Dortmund a shot at pulling off a comeback for the ages, but the Signal Iduna Park faithful had other ideas, generating a thunderous atmosphere that sparked an early wave of pressure from the hosts. That energy paid off inside 11 minutes, as Guirassy coolly slotted home a penalty after Pascal Gross was clumsily brought down by Wojciech Szczesny in the area.
Gross, back from suspension, thought he’d doubled Dortmund’s lead with a crisp finish just minutes later, only to be denied by the offside flag. Barcelona managed to slow the tempo around the half-hour mark but never looked comfortable against BVB’s aggressive forward line, and missed chances from Beier and Adeyemi kept the Catalans nervy heading into the break.
Dortmund resumed on the front foot after the restart and were rewarded within four minutes, as Guirassy rose to nod in Bensebaini’s delivery, cutting Barcelona’s aggregate lead to just one. However, Bensebaini’s joy over this seemingly vital assist was short-lived, as he inadvertently turned Fermin Lopez’s near-post ball into his own net, restoring a cushion for the visitors and dampening the spirits of his team.
Guirassy’s hat-trick – completed after latching onto Ronald Araujo’s poor clearance – once again raised belief of a miracle, but despite their relentless attacking intent, Dortmund couldn’t find the goals needed to complete the turnaround. Barcelona ultimately limped through, unconvincingly, to the next round.
Barcelona must return to their best
There’s no sugarcoating the fact that Tuesday’s display was well below Barcelona’s usual standards. Overrun in the first half by a relentless Dortmund and visibly shaky after the break, the Catalans offered their hosts far too much encouragement. It was anything but a composed, clinical showing and gave Dortmund genuine belief that a shock could be on the cards.
Hansi Flick will hardly have been pleased by the complacency on display, with his side teetering dangerously close to a collapse that should never have been possible. While Dortmund ultimately fell short, the nervous energy back in Catalonia during those final minutes was a far cry from what should’ve been a routine passage into the semis.
With Inter Milan or Bayern Munich looming ahead in the next round, Barcelona cannot afford another night as lax and vulnerable as this. Failure to take the opposition seriously through complacency at this level cost them dearly in 2019 at Anfield, and they would do well to remember it.
Back line dangerously high
Barcelona’s attacking quality ultimately separated the sides in the first leg, but even then, Dortmund exposed worrying flaws in La Blaugrana’s backline. Guirassy missed a number of promising chances in Spain that could’ve swung the tie, but on Tuesday night, he made no such mistakes.
Time and again, Dortmund exploited Barcelona’s reckless high line, with Guirassy thriving on the space in behind and the midfield runs from Gross going unchecked. Beier and Adeyemi added to the chaos with their pace, particularly when Dortmund opted for a more direct approach.
Barcelona’s cause wasn’t helped by glaring individual errors either – Szczesny’s clumsy challenge handed the hosts their opener, while Araujo’s poor clearance led to Guirassy’s third. But the wider concern remains their defensive setup. Flick’s insistence on an ultra-high line continues to invite trouble, and unless there’s a tactical shift, Inter or Bayern are more than capable of making them pay dearly in the semis.
Barca forwards kept quiet
Barcelona’s lethal front three have lit up the pitch on countless occasions this season, but they were a shadow of themselves in Dortmund. Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, and Robert Lewandowski combined for a mere two shots all game, scraping together a minuscule 0.07 expected goals – a stat that underlines just how anonymous they were in a lacklustre team display.
The trio were strangely off the pace, lacking the trademark urgency, confidence, and sharpness that typically defines their play. Despite the open spaces left by Dortmund’s aggressive press, they failed to capitalize, often looking disconnected and uninspired in the final third.
While it may just be a rare off night for a unit that’s dazzled all season, Barcelona can’t afford a repeat performance at this stage of the Champions League. With tougher tests on the horizon, their star attackers will need to rediscover their cutting edge, and fast.
