Borussia Dortmund: What we learned from 1-0 win over Freiburg

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DORTMUND, GERMANY – FEBRUARY 29: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) goalkeeper Roman Buerki of Borussia Dortmund and Lukasz Piszczek of Borussia Dortmund controls the ball during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Sport-Club Freiburg at Signal Iduna Park on February 29, 2020 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Max Maiwald/DeFodi Images via Getty Images) /

Defence is still not flawless

At the surface it was Borussia Dortmund’s third clean sheet in a row. Throughout the game however, there were a series of errors and a collection of late half-chances for Freiburg to draw the scores level. If not for a great goal line clearance from Lukasz Piszczek, Freiburg would have scored after Borussia Dortmund fell asleep for a play. Janik Harberer got in behind too easily down the wing and Nils Petersen was all alone to head home his cross had it not been for the Polish international.

It’s hard to be overly critical of the defence, because they did keep the clean sheet and usually had enough numbers back to deal with the Freiburg attacks that looked to be dangerous. The biggest issue throughout the game was misplaced passes at the back, which would happen without an overwhelming press from the Freiburg front line.

They were not made to pay for the turnovers today, but with games against Gladbach and PSG on the horizon, it will be harder for the side to remain unpunished from its errors.

While Manuel Akanji was not always to blame, it has to be noted that a majority of the struggles came in the second half after he replaced Mats Hummels. The signs are still not promising that he can fill in for any of the back three if an injury calls for his return to the line up.

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