Borussia Dortmund end their winter training camp on a high

Borussia Dortmund’s second game in their winter training camp in Marbella ended with a 3-2 victory against Belgian side Zulte Waregem. A goal from Lukasz Piszczek and a brace from Aubameyang were enough to finish their winter training camp with two back to back victories going into the Bundesliga season. So what can we take away from this game and how would it affect the upcoming performances of the club.

Borussia Dortmund vs Zulte Waregem:

Dortmund’s performance in this game differed from their previous one against Fortuna Düsseldorf. Unlike their previous game where Dortmund employed a high pressure-possession based style of football, today’s game was more of a passing-counter attack style of play. Fair to say it wasn’t their best performance but they managed to get the job done despite being a goal down twice throughout the match.

Line-ups

Dortmund: Bansen – Piszczek, Sokratis (c), Zagadou, Durm – Castro, Weigl, Götze – Yarmolenko, Aubameyang, Sancho
Subs: Reckert, Subotic, Dahoud, Isak, Kagawa, Toljan
Absentees: Bürki (cold), Schmelzer (calf), Reus (match fitness), Philipp (knee)
Coach: Peter Stöger

Waregem: Bossut – De Fauw (c), Baudry, Derijck, Hamalainen – Marcq, Coopman – De Pauw, Oldrup Larsen, Kaya – Harbaoui
Coach: Francky Dury

Dortmund had plenty of players returning from injury and take part in the match such as both the goalscorers Lukasz Piszczek and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Other names included Mario Götze, Dan Axel Zagadou, and Gonzalo Castro. Despite it only being a 3-2 victory, who were the standout players and where does the team need work?

Individual Performances

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang: The lethal striker showed once again why he is one of the best in the world when it comes to finishing. Two goals in the space of nine minutes to win the game for Dortmund. Andriy Yarmalenko fed the ball to Aubameyang after retaining possession from the opposition leaving Aubameyang one on one with the keeper and then cooly slotting the ball in the back of the net. Aubameyang then put Dortmund in the lead after a lovely pass from youngster Jadon Sancho led Aubameyang to cut inside and then smash the ball into the top corner.

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Jadon Sancho: Another brilliant performance from Dortmund’s first Englishman. Sancho, similar to his last game, continued to take on defenders and looking for passes when eventually one found Aubameyang who scored the winner for Dortmund. Sancho took on players and creating plays caused a real headache for the opposition. It’s very clear that after his performances in these two games Sancho is a force to be reckoned with and can become a world-class player if Peter Stoger puts faith in him and gives him more game time.

Andriy Yarmaleno: A fairly quiet game from the Ukranian, unlike his performance in the previous game against Fortuna Düsseldorf. Despite assisting Aubameyang’s first goal, Yarmolenko wasn’t at his best. He was lacking the threat that he creates on the right wing. He did assist Aubameyang but that was after an error from the opposition, other than that a below-par performance compared to his one in the previous game.

Dan Axel Zagadou: The Frenchman was solid at the back today. Despite conceding two goals, the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month in September was able to retain the ball from the opposition time and time again and putting his physique to good use, he made a good partnership with Sokratis. Zagadou is a viable replacement for Marc Bartra and Omer Toprak despite the fact that he plays left back. When Marcel Schmelzer returns a Zagadou-Sokratis partnership would be excellent for the defence.

What Needs Work?

The build-up play was excellent in both games but the finishing wasn’t perfect as some clear-cut chances were wasted which could have extended their lead in both matches.

The defence in the two games was excellent but in the second match against Zulte Waregem, a single pass had split the defence leading to the first goal. Both ground and over the top through balls threatened the defence but were still handled nicely.

And Most Importantly:

Dortmund needs to start making decisions on who to let go in this January transfer window as an excess of players affect the game time that some players such as Sancho and Zagadou who need game time to develop and become world class players that they have the potential of becoming. The winter training camp has shown that Schurrle, Durm, and Subotic have all been below par.

Borussia Dortmund kick off the Rückrunde with fixtures against VFL Wolfsburg, Hertha Berlin and FC Koln. Their Europa League campaign with a home game against Italian side Atalanta.

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