Borussia Dortmund lost further ground in the title race with a 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the final game of the hinrunde.
Needing a win to move up to third place in the Bundesliga table, Borussia Dortmund started poorly and conceded the opener in just the 14th minute. It was Moussa Diaby who scored for Bayer Leverkusen, taking advantage of some very ordinary defending from the Black and Yellows. The hosts had a number of chances to add to their lead in the first half, but Roman Bürki kept Dortmund in the game going into half-time.
Borussia Dortmund came back stronger after the break, and Julian Brandt scored the equaliser against his former club. But more lacklustre defending allowed Florian Wirtz to race clear on goal and restore Leverkusen’s advantage ten minutes from time.
Borussia Dortmund weren’t able to find a late equaliser, and were condemned to their sixth defeat of the season in the Bundesliga. Here are our player ratings for the Borussia Dortmund players from the game.
Roman Bürki (5.5/10)
Bürki made an incredible 11 saves to prevent Levekusen from inflicting further damage on the Dortmund goal. But he probably could have done a lot better with Moussa Diaby’s opener, and his distribution play also left a lot to be desired.
Thomas Meunier (4.5/10)
Fresh after impressing against Mainz at the weekend, Thomas Meunier was actually okay for parts of the game against Leverkusen. But there were still too many careless errors in his game that proved to be costly for Borussia Dortmund. He was caught napping as Leverkusen won the ball before the winner. And by the time he woke up again, Moussa Diaby was already yards away from him.
The Belgian international also missed a glorious chance in the second half to equalise for Borussia Dortmund.
Manuel Akanji (4.5/10)
Akanji made several vital recoveries for the team in the second half, but did struggle a fair bit early on. The Swiss centre-back also lost possession to Moussa Diaby in the 80th minute, allowing him to run into space and find Florian Wirtz for Leverkusen’s winner.
Mats Hummels (4/10)
Hummels looked off his game and struggled against the pace of Moussa Diaby. He was caught chasing shadows on a number of occasions, as Diaby went clear of him time and time again. His forward passing also looked off, as the Borussia Dortmund vice-captain failed to meet the high standards he has set for himself over the years.
Raphael Guerreiro (4/10)
With Diaby causing the Dortmund defence all sorts of problems, Guerreiro seemingly decided to forget about his defensive duties for large parts of the game. Diaby had so much space to work with, and Hummels simply could not keep up with him as a result. He made careless errors on a number of occasions. But he did assist Julian Brandt’s equaliser with a well weighted pass.
Thomas Delaney (6/10)
Delaney’s game was a bit of a mixed bag. At times, he was overrun in midfield with no Emre Can or Axel Witsel to support him. He still worked really hard and was always alert in his duels, making several vital rescue acts. The Dane won the ball really intelligently in the build-up to Borussia Dortmund’s equaliser. But he did get booked late on, and will now be suspended for Friday’s game against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Jude Bellingham (5/10)
Bellingham wasn’t able to build on his impressive display against Mainz. Even though he showed glimpses of his quality in the second half, he wasn’t able to create too many opportunities from midfield. He also did not offer enough help defensively, meaning that Thomas Delaney was often left alone to fend off the Leverkusen attacking midfielders.
Jadon Sancho (4.5/10)
Sancho endured another frustrating evening, but it was certainly not for a lack of trying. He caused the Bayer Leverkusen defenders a few problems, but lacked the final delivery and usually ended up making the wrong decisions in the final third. He also missed a big chance to give Borussia Dortmund the lead in the 70th minute, and was substituted soon after.
Marco Reus (4.5/10)
Reus pressed high up the pitch, wasn’t afraid to get into duels and did his defensive duties well. But what seemed to be missing was the threat going forward. Despite all his hard work, he offered far too little going forward. He looked a bit too hesitant in front of goal when slipped through in the second half.
Julian Brandt (7/10)
Brandt ended his goal drought by scoring the equaliser for Borussia Dortmund. It was a well taken finish by the German international, who should have made it 2-1 just moments later. He pressed well and always looked lively, even though his decision making wasn’t always the best.
Erling Haaland (4.5/10)
Another game in which Haaland was hardly involved. The Norwegian international was limited to just 23 touches and was kept quiet by Tapsoba. He did not stop working, but was rendered rather ineffective.
Gio Reyna (N/R)
Gio Reyna made his return from a sore throat and replaced Sancho in the second half but did not make a significant impact on the game.
Youssoufa Moukoko (N/R)
Moukoko came on to replace Jude Bellingham and had a couple of promising touches. But he did not have enough time to cause Leverkusen any real problems.
Steffen Tigges (N/R)
The Borussia Dortmund U23s captain was bought on as the final throw of the dice by Edin Terzic, but only touched the ball once.