Borussia Dortmund: What went wrong in the Champions League defeat to PSG

Borussia Dortmund saw their Champions League run end in Paris, as PSG were able to overcome their 2-1 first leg loss to seal their passage to the quarterfinals.

Now with Borussia Dortmund’s season coming down to the league alone, the Black and Yellows have to look at what went wrong with the team selection and tactics in this game before going into the final stretch of the league season. Despite the loss, the game can be a silver lining if the right conclusions are drawn and a serious title challenge can be launched.

Julian Brandt needs to start in the midfield

Julian Brandt not starting against PSG was hard to understand, but how long it took for him to sub in was even more confusing. Borussia Dortmund were missing his ability to move the ball in the middle of the field as they struggled to create anything in the first half.

It seemed like a simple and much needed sub to bring him on for either Emre Can or Axel Witsel coming out of the break, but instead Brandt had to wait until the 69th minute to come on.

Lucian Favre’s side struggled to create anything in between Juan Bernat’s goal to put them behind 2-0 and Brandt’s arrival onto the pitch. With PSG on the cusp of advancing, they played with two lines of four behind the ball almost all the time. Dortmund tried moving the ball from sideline to sideline to stretch them out as there was no space in the box, but the man to do that was not on the field.

For Brandt, turning with the ball and playing long passes is a reflex, but the same cannot be said about Can. The winter signing from Juventus struggled in this role, taking too long to switch the field and often settling for the short pass instead.

With the amount of players PSG had behind the ball, every second matters and opportunities to find a hole in the defense came few and far between.

When Brandt finally subbed on, it was for Hazard, which did not make sense considering the short amount of time left for Dortmund to save their Champions League campaign. They needed every bit of offence they could have as they struggled to break down PSG, the move made it seem like Favre was more concerned with not conceding a third.

Favre seems hesitant to let go of playing two defensive midfielders, but that goes against the recent history for the side. It may have worked in the first leg against PSG and in some league games in between, but it is very similar to what happened last season and earlier this year. Thomas Delaney and Axel Witsel did a decent job, but the lack of midfield creativity cost Dortmund plenty of results when the forwards had an off day.

The big pivot this year, besides the signing of Erling Haaland, was the switch in formation and bringing in the new midfield duo of Brandt and Witsel.