Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-1 Borussia Dortmund: Player Ratings

Despite giving up 28 shots, the Black and Yellows earned themselves all three points away from home against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Here are the player ratings for Peter Stöger’s team from the match.

Roman Bürki (9/10)

No question about it, Bürki earned his clean sheet. The Swiss keeper had a fantastic game, notching 11 saves, per Whoscored.com. The majority of his saves were routine, but he had two or three at full stretch. He perhaps could have been a little better to knock the ball further out of harms way on some of the initial saves, but he always scrambled out to get the ball afterwards. After some questions were raised about some of the shots Bürki let in against Atalanta on Thursday, Dortmund’s starting keeper silenced his critics with his performance against Mönchengladbach.

Jeremy Toljan (6/10)

Toljan’s performance against Mönchengladbach is tough to judge. On the one hand, he was more involved in Dortmund’s play going forward than he has been. Toljan is starting to participate in Dortmund’s attacks in transition more, even started one or two counterattacks himself. He also had a number of good tackles, especially in the first half. On the other hand, Toljan contributed to some of the sloppiness that allowed Mönchengladbach back into the game in the second half. He was beaten a little too easily down that left side, and misplaced 37% of his passes, per Whoscored.com. Toljan needs to lock down his consistency across 90 minutes.

Manuel Akanji (7/10)

Akanji was close to outstanding against Mönchengladbach. Throughout the 90 minutes, he was making tackles and challenging for the ball all over the pitch. The Swiss centre-back was everywhere. Akanji is quicker than either Sokratis or Ömer Toprak, and tends to step to the ball earlier. He adds another dimension to Dortmund’s defending. Most impressively, Akanji played well for the entire match. If Akanji can continue to play with the consistency he showed today, he’ll be a starter in no time (if he isn’t already).

Sokratis Papastathopoulos (7/10)

Sokratis was Dortmund’s rock in the second half as his team gradually lost control of the game. He and Akanji formed a solid partnership in the heart of defense. The Greek centre-back made last-ditch save after last-ditch save. Sokratis’ performance reminded us just how good he can be. It will be a joy to watch the fight for playing time at the center-back position over the next few months. Toprak, Akanji and Sokratis will have to fight tooth and nail to start for Dortmund. The competition will only serve to strengthen the team’s defense.

Łukasz Piszczek (6/10)

Piszczek’s biggest strength has always been going forward. He’s a brilliant crosser of the ball, and links up brilliantly with his teammates. Dortmund’s offense always looks more fluid when Piszczek is on the pitch, and today was no different. Unfortunately, Piszczek’s age is working against him. He no longer has the pace to get back on defense after his forays up the right side of the pitch. That leaves Dortmund wide open to counterattacks, and that’s where Mönchengladbach hit them repeatedly. There is no question that Piszczek is critical to Dortmund’s play, but his age has become a concern.

Julian Weigl (5/10)

Weigl continues to be stuck in a rut. It’s been true for a few months now, but he looks like a shell of the Weigl that bossed the middle of the field game after game under Tuchel. While his chief role is to distribute the ball when Dortmund has possession, Weigl only completed 63% of his passes. In fairness to him, the game got hectic towards the end. Dortmund has been missing Weigl’s traditionally calm presence at the base of midfield for some time. We need him (and Stöger) to find it again.

Gonzalo Castro (5/10)

The consistency with which Castro is picked for Dortmund’s starting XI is impressive. The German midfielder adds very little to this Dortmund side. He isn’t strong or physical enough to be an enforcer-style midfielder, and lacks creativity going forward. But coach after coach opts to start Castro over far more talented players time and time again. In part, it’s because Castro is consistently mediocre; you know more or less what you’re going to get with him. Today was no different. His contribution offensively was nonexistent or incidental, and defensively he served only to harass the opposition. Castro is likable and works hard, and honestly deserves a place in a starting 11 somewhere. He’s just not good enough to play at Dortmund.

Mario Götze (7/10)

It wasn’t a vintage performance from Götze. He wasn’t quite as sharp as usual, and misplaced a couple of passes to his fellow attackers. He can (and often did) link up with Marco Reus, André Schürrle and Michy Batshuayi, but his play was just a touch off once or twice today. Götze was still the most creative Dortmund player on the pitch. He also got the hockey assist for Reus’ wondergoal with a lovely pass to Schürrle.

Marco Reus (8/10)

Reus is just so good at football. His goal was an absolute beauty. Reus received a clever cross from Schürrle on the right side of the box, took a moment to set up the shot, and lofted the ball brilliantly over Yann Sommer. It smacked the underside of the bar on its way in. Sommer didn’t even try to save it.

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It was a class goal from the German winger, but it wasn’t his only contribution to the game. He was also dangerous in linking up with Götze, Schürrle and Batshuayi, but the four Dortmund attackers weren’t terribly clinical on the whole. A few poor passes here, a few missed chances there, and their performance came off a bit sloppy. Reus, though, will be very happy to get back on the scoresheet.

André Schürrle (7/10)

I still can’t quite believe it, but Schürrle seems to have become a critical piece of Dortmund’s offense. His play in transition against Mönchengladbach was outstanding. It seemed like every time Dortmund won the ball, Schürrle was leading a counterattack down the left wing. Seeing Schürrle in the starting XI used to elicit frustrated groans. Not anymore. I’m certainly not ready to say “Schürrle is back” quite yet, but he looked good in his fourth straight game.

Michy Batshuayi (6/10)

It was a quiet game for Batshuayi, after his outrageous performance in front of goal to start his Dortmund career. The Belgian striker struggled to get much service, as Dortmund’s attacking midfielders struggled with the precision of their passes. Mönchengladbach played impressive defense to keep Batshuayi under wraps. It was the type of game in which Aubameyang would have disappeared completely, but Batshuayi managed to still get involved. He dropped deeper to help Dortmund recycle possession and created changes himself with good pressing to steal the ball high up the pitch.

Truth be told, Dortmund were a bit unfortunate to not put two or three past Sommer against Mönchengladbach. Their attacking quartet created a few good chances, but only Reus managed to find the back of the net. More goals will come for Batshuayi.

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Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 – 1 Borussia Dortmund: Player Ratings From Hard Fought Win

By Asher Woodbury | Feb 18, 2018