Borussia Dortmund’s goalless draw against Brugge was a long time coming

Borussia Dortmund failed to score at the Westfalenstadion for the first time this season as they were held to a stalemate by Club Brugge and the result was no surprise taking into account the recent performances.

Borussia Dortmund were far from their best as they failed to break down an organised Brugge defense. The home side started well and created two big chances in the first half, but as the game wore on, it became more and more likely that they would not be getting the three points out of the game.

A draw was enough for Borussia Dortmund to secure their spot in the round of 16, but they are now likely to face one of the group winners in the next round after losing top spot to Atletico Madrid.

Despite Borussia Dortmund’s incredible start to the season, the goals have somewhat dried up in recent weeks. While Borussia Dortmund have continued to get results, they haven’t been able to match the lofty levels they set for themselves last month. Aside from their 3-2 win over Bayern, Dortmund have struggled to find the goals and the attacking players have been guilty of missing numerous chances.

Der BVB had only one shot on target in their 1-0 win over Wolfsburg, before suffering a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid. On Saturday, they had to wait until the 66th minute to break down the Mainz defense and needed a stunning strike from Lukasz Piszczek to get all three points. The trend continued on Wednesday as Borussia Dortmund failed to score at home for the first time this season.

Of course that is to be expected as no team can play with the same level of intensity or score three goals in every game. Tiredness is also a major factor as Dortmund have been playing a game nearly every three days for the past two months. The likes of Marco Reus, Axel Witsel and Jadon Sancho have appeared in all 19 of Borussia Dortmund’s games so far and are in need of a rest.

Another thing to note is that in all of the above mentioned games, Borussia Dortmund have been allowed to have the majority of the ball by the opposition teams. Dortmund are at their very best when they are playing quick counter attacking football with space to attack and run into. But when the other team parks the bus, the Black and Yellows find it hard to break them down. Lucien Favre’s Borussia Dortmund prefer to play quick and direct football, but when there are eleven opposition players behind the ball, they at times struggle to play their natural game.

We saw this against Hannover and Hoffenheim earlier in the season, while Brugge nearly managed to hold Dortmund to a goalless draw in the reverse fixture as well.

Lucien Favre will not be too disappointed with the draw as it helped Borussia Dortmund progress to the next round. But being the perfectionist he is, Favre will be aiming to address this issue in the coming days as his team embark on a run of matches in which they will be expected to dominate proceedings.