Key Takeaways from Borussia Dortmund's unnecessary loss to Leverkusen

Key Takeaways from Borussia Dortmund’s unnecessary loss to Bayer Leverkusen

08 February 2020, North Rhine-Westphalia, Leverkusen: Football: Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen - Borussia Dortmund, 21st matchday in the BayArena: Coach Lucien Favre of Dortmund takes a seat on the bench. Photo: Bernd Thissen/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Bernd Thissen/picture alliance via Getty Images) /

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LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY – FEBRUARY 08: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund looks dejected during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund at BayArena on February 8, 2020 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by DeFodi Images via Getty Images) /

Erling Haaland kept off the scoresheet

Erling Haaland was held off the scoresheet for the first time in a Dortmund jersey. After scoring 8 goals in his first 4 appearances it seemed as though he would score every game. Obviously, in reality that couldn’t be the case and this had to happen eventually. He still was in the right position so many times and with better passes that actually found his feet he likely would have scored.

The most promising part of this game for Haaland was seeing his contributions even without finding the back of the net. Haaland ran tirelessly over the pitch for the team in this one. His exceptional work rate was on full display for Dortmund fans.

Not only is his high effort level, he showed his hold up play and we saw another side to his physicality. He’s not the same type of target man as Lewandowski who is able to beat defenders to 50/50 balls in the air, but Haaland uses his size and blistering pace to beat defenders to loose balls and hold up play for the rest of the Dortmund squad to catch up.

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The main takeaway from this game is that Borussia Dortmund have their target man, and he offers so much more to the team than just scoring goals.

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