Report: Borussia Dortmund dumped out of the Europa League by RB Salzburg

Borussia Dortmund ended any hopes of getting silverware this season as a 0-0 draw against Salzburg saw them crash out of the Europa League.

Borussia Dortmund lineup

Burki, Schmelzer, Sokratis, Zagadou, Piszczek, Castro, Dahoud, Gotze, Reus, Schurrle, Batshuayi: Subs – Weidenfeller, Sahin, Guerreiro, Isak, Toljan, Philipp, Weigl

First Half

Borussia Dortmund started the half, deep in enemy territory. BVB required two goals at a minimum to beat Salzburg in the second leg. Piszczek missing an early pass from Sokratis spelled danger for the away team and the action crawled in the opening of the match. Counterattacks against Dortmund started and Piszczek’s weak feet did not help. The new contract he signed not proving to be a significant morale boost.

The defensive line has full of issues this season. And Sokratis and Zagadou did not have any cohesion as they have rarely played together. Their poor communication should have led to Salzburg scoring, but Burki still managed to come up big with a save in the opening minutes. Dortmund seemingly lost and regained the ability to play as a team depending on where the ball was on the field.

The playing style of Dortmund spoke volumes today, as they moved the ball up the wings and rarely down the middle. Around the 35th minute mark, Marco Reus and company made a dash down the middle and left-wing for an attack. In the end, Reus fell down in the box, unable to pass or shoot the ball.. Soon after, Batshuayi caught an elbow in the face while in the box, but the referee brushed it off and played advantage.

The half came to a close, not before Batshuayi and Reus almost got the first goal of the game. The shot itself was lackluster, but BVB needed a resurgence to make it through the opponent’s defense. That shot could have been the catalyst for Der BVB getting back into the game. Peter Stöger needed his team to pull it together in the next half.

Second Half

A surprise to the start of the second half, Isak and Philipp replaced Reus and Gotze respectively. Unfortunately, the match continued on like the first half. Philipp and Isak combined together for a strong shot on target. Again, hope started to build around the visiting team, it was only a matter of finishing the chances available.

After 55 minutes, Borussia Dortmund finally woke up and started to bring in the attacking part of their game. Zagadou and the defensive line did better and the home team found it difficult to handle the black and yellows.

Guerreiro came on for Castro, with 61 minutes gone. Castro’s performance was better than average today, but it was not good enough by Dortmund’s standards.

Isak got the best chance on goal around the 70th minute mark. A good save prevented the goal, but this was the best Isak looked since signing for Borussia Dortmund. The match drew to a close as nothing thrown at Salzburg got into the back of the net.

Next: Player ratings from Borussia Dortmund's latest embarrassment

Aftermath

Borussia Dortmund are out of European competitions, unable to win the Bundesliga and already out of the domestic cup. Peter Stöger must now keep BVB near the top of the table before the season is over. The future of BVB looks bleaker than ever after this match.