A midfield masterclass: Julian Brandt and Mahmoud Dahoud showed their quality in win over Schalke
By Adam Bakr
Borussia Dortmund’s midfield trio played a key role in helping them earn a dominant win over rivals Schalke 04.
Borussia Dortmund surprisingly switched to a back four against Schalke, and a new look midfield came with it. Julian Brandt and Mahmoud Dahoud started over Jude Bellingham and Axel Witsel in the midfield pivot, and Thomas Delaney completed the trio as the defensive midfielder.
It brought Brandt back into his preferred position. So far this season, he has only appeared in the front three and has hardly been given the chance to start. Pairing Dahoud with him gave Borussia Dortmund a much more attack-minded midfield than the one that started against Lazio.
The midfield was able to control the game, with Dortmund completely dominating their rivals. They finished the game with 75% possession and had 18 shots to Schalke’s three. With the squad having good performances all around, we take a deeper look into the play of each of the midfield trio.