Borussia Dortmund: Three keys to victory against Werder Bremen

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DORTMUND, GERMANY – FEBRUARY 18: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Neymar of Paris Saint-Germain, Mats Hummels of Borussia Dortmund and Dan-Axel Zagadou of Borussia Dortmund battle for the ball during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain at Signal Iduna Park on February 18, 2020 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by DeFodi Images via Getty Images) /

Error free game from the new back three

With the regression of Manuel Akanji, Favre has recently benched him in favor of Łukasz Piszczek. Together with Dan-Axel Zagadou and Mats Hummels, the new back line has put in two strong performances.

The trio were first used together in the 4-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt at home last weekend. Besides the clean sheet, they held Frankfurt to just one shot, which was not on target, and no corners for the whole game.

Even more impressive, may have been the performance against PSG. With the exception of a miscue on what looked to be a slip from Zagadou, the Black and Yellows kept PSG’s very talented front three in check for the game. It was debatably the worst game of the season for both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Akanji was very mistake prone in the games leading to his removal from the line up. He lost Davie Selke on Bremen’s opening goal in the cup loss and was at fault Kevin Vollands first goal and Leon Baily’s in the 4-3 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. The new line up carrying this form into the weekend will be instrumental in keeping Dortmund out of an early deficit or avoiding unnecessary pressure late on.

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