Borussia Dortmund opened up their Champions League campaign with an away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. While the squad was hit by numerous injuries, we still learned a lot from the match. Here are the key takeaways.
Positives
Five games still left
With only two teams advancing out of our ‘group of death’, it will likely come down to the wire between Dortmund and Tottenham for that second place spot behind Real Madrid. However this loss does not harm Dortmund’s chances too much with 5 games left. The home fixture against Tottenham and the two games against Madrid will likely prove to be the deciding factor.
Yarmolenko is making his mark
How about that starting debut from our new Ukrainian? Yarmolenko scored a beautiful left footed goal from outside the box that curled its way past the outstretched glove of French Captain Hugo Lloris. Hopefully the first of many to come.
Yarmolenko's first goal in a Borussia Dortmund shirt. #BVBhttps://t.co/MWcs94fDTt
— BVB Buzz (@BVBBuzz) September 13, 2017
Dortmund receive a wake up call
The side that faced Tottenham Hotspur was far from Dortmund’s ideal XI, either way it served as a rude awakening to reality. Dortmund didn’t play all that bad the entire time, but it was far from their best. Even despite missing a lot of starters, a two goal defeat for a team of Dortmund’s standards is never OK. It’s time to buckle down and revamp their efforts, or else Dortmund will find themselves stuck in Europa League.