APOEL 1-1 Dortmund: Review; Champions League campaign over for BVB?
Borussia Dortmund found themselves in a do-or-die match against APOEL, and for good reason. The German side had lost both their CL fixtures for the season against Tottenham and Real Madrid standing at the bottom of group H. A win against the Cyprus champions would keep the visiting Dortmund in contention for the UCL.
First Half:
Dortmund fielded a rather defensive back-line due to injuries. Despite speculation of a 3-man defence, Bosz opted to field all his starting CBs alongside a returning Marcel Schmelzer on the left. Marc Bartra occupied the right side in a role he was familiar with while Toprak and Sokratis filled the void in the middle. Weigl, Gotze and Kagawa played in the middle while the front-line comprised of Aubameyang, Yarmolenko and Pulisic.
An early chance fell to Dortmund as Kagawa slipped through a pass for Yarmolenko who lacked composure under pressure and skied his shot. Kagawa would soon return the favour by misplace a header of his own—after some lovely one-twos, Pulisic made a teasing cross into the box but Kagawa’s attempt was always going sideways. The Japanese star man missed another as he wasted an opportunity created by Yarmolenko’s run.
Fifteen minutes into the half, APOEL broke the offside trap and nearly put the ball behind Bürki.
Aubameyang had his first opportunity of the game as he stood over a free kick but his shot went into the stands. Yarmolenko would follow suit by making a brazen attempt from outside the box.
Apart from a failed attempt by Schmelzer, the first half had very little to offer.
Second Half:
The second half begun lackadaisically with things starting to pick up at the hour-mark.
A corner for Dortmund caused chaos in the box but Aubameyang failed to make the most of it with a cheap attempt that wasn’t on target.
A minute later, Roman Bürki played a poor pass that fell straight into the path of Ebecilio. Within three seconds, Pote was rounding up the keeper and finding the back of the net. 1-0, APOEL.
Pulisic tried to make things level but no one seemed to be able to get their shots on target and the American was no different.
At the 66th minute however, Dortmund had a break through as a Gotze-ball dipped into the box for Sokratis to finish with ease. 1-1.
More from BVB Buzz
- Paris Saint-Germain vs Borussia Dortmund: How to watch, live stream info and more
- Opinion: Borussia Dortmund’s win over Freiburg far more narrow than scoreline suggests
- Expected Borussia Dortmund lineup vs Paris Saint-Germain
- Bundesliga Roundup: Serhou Guirassy, Xavi Simons, Mats Hummels star on matchday four
- Paris Saint-Germain vs Borussia Dortmund: Team News, Preview
In a period of end-to-end football, Pote and Kagawa managed to get shots on target with the former hitting his shot at Burki and the latter striking the woodwork. APOEL had another chance as a Aloneftis ball slid across the goal but there was no one to meet it.
In the dying seconds of the game, Pulisic went on a solo run before hammering the cross for Aubameyang who struck it with intent. Waterman, the opposition GK, however, was sharp and made a crucial save to earn his team the one point.
A distraught Dortmund left Cyprus with one point and now lie bottom of the table with any hopes of getting to the last-16 all but gone, after Real Madrid and Tottenham played for a draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.