Borussia Dortmund suffer 3-1 defeat to Feyenoord in second friendly of the day

Borussia Dortmund suffered a 3-1 defeat to Feyenoord in their second game of the ‘Traditions Cup’ in Duisburg.

Just minutes after thrashing MSV Duisburg 5-1, Borussia Dortmund took to the pitch once again to take on Dutch side Feyenoord. Lucien Favre fielded a completely different line-up with Erling Haaland leading the attack, Julian Brandt behind him, Lukasz Piszczek and Emre Can in defence, and Axel Witsel as captain.

Borussia Dortmund did not get off to the best of starts as Feyenoord took the lead through Nicolai Jørgensen in the 17th minute. The Black and Yellows’ poor defending was highlighted once again as Eric Botteghin headed home from a corner to make it 2-0 for Dick Advocaat’s team just seven minutes later.

Borussia Dortmund struggled to find their rhythm and failed to create a single decent chance in the first half as Erling Haaland cut a lonely figure up front.

They started to venture forward more often after the break, but Feyenoord defended well and made it 3-0 on the counter-attack, with Nicolai Jørgensen getting his second goal with a fine low finish past Roman Bürki.

Axel Witsel pulled a goal back for Borussia Dortmund late on, and they had an excellent chance to make it 3-2 with the final kick of the game after Raphael Guerreiro was elbowed down by a Feyenoord defender inside the box. But Erling Haaland had his penalty saved by Feyenoord goalkeeper Justin Bijlow, as the Dutch side ended the game with a comfortable 3-1 win.

Lucien Favre is keen to return to a back four this season, but this game showed exactly why that would be a bad idea. The majority of the Borussia Dortmund squad looks more comfortable with three at the back, and Favre would be better off sticking to the formation that worked well in the second half of last season.

Borussia Dortmund play twice on the same day once again next week, as they go up against Paderborn and VfL Bochum in their final friendlies before the start of the new season.