Sevilla 2-3 Borussia Dortmund: An analysis of BVB’s memorable Champions League win
Borussia Dortmund earned an impressive 3-2 win away to Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. It was a fine comeback win that helped them end a disappointing run of recent results. Goals from Mahmoud Dahoud and Erling Haaland (x2) meant that the Black and Yellows will now take a vital lead going into next month’s second leg. Here we analyse some of the key moments from the game, and how Borussia Dortmund managed to beat an in-form Sevilla side.
An important switch in formation
Edin Terzic decided to change his formation, going with Jude Bellingham and Mahmoud Dahoud in a three man midfield with Emre Can as the defensive midfielder. Borussia Dortmund varied the way they were building up their attacking play against Sevilla. One of the ways they ventured forward was by using an asymmetrical back four to push Mateu Morey further up the pitch. This allowed Marco Reus to drift central and occupy the CB and midfielder, as seen below.
Jude Bellingham would then drop into the right back position to drag Alejandro Gomez wide and open a passing lane into Reus. This allowed Manuel Akanji to play a vertical pass through the lines, taking three Sevilla players out of the game, to Reus who was then able to turn and run at the Sevilla defence.
As Sevilla were pressing in a 4-4-2 formation, the midfield two were often stretched due to Dahoud holding his position as the left central midfielder really well. This would open the passing line into Bellingham who would take up a position behind the midfield line. Playing a three-man midfield helped Dahoud and Bellingham play their natural game, knowing Emre Can would be behind in case of any Sevilla counter-attacks. And having two extra midfielders ensured that Can would never be left alone to deal with said counters.
When Bellingham received the ball in this position, it triggered Erling Haaland to make a run in behind. This was to either receive the ball in behind, or to drag the CB deeper which would open up space for Bellingham to dribble into.
Out of possession, Borussia Dortmund set up in a 4-1-4-1 formation. They allowed the centre backs to have the ball while staying narrow to shorten the distance between each player and minimise the opportunity for Sevilla to play vertical passes into the forwards. When the ball was played to the Sevilla full-backs, this was the trigger for the wingers to press and for the Dortmund full backs to close down the Sevilla wingers to ensure that they weren’t given any time or space to receive the ball.
Sevilla tried to combat this with Papu Gomez going into the left half space when the left back had the ball to open up space down the line for the striker to make a run into. This would then force Akanji to go and defend the wide areas which causes disorganisation in the team’s defensive structure which results in space opening up for Sevilla to exploit.
Sevilla also used rotations in the wide areas to cause confusion within Borussia Dortmund’s defensive structure. Below we can see Gomez has gone into the left back’s position with the left back in the half space. This has caused confusion as Morey does not know whether to leave Gomez free or to press him and open up space for the ball over the top in behind for the full back. Marco Reus knows that if he presses Gomez then he leaves open the passing lane into the full-back from the centre-back.
Sevilla were now building in a back 3 which allowed the full backs to push up and play as wing backs. As they were occupying the wide areas, this allowed the wingers to come central into the half spaces. The wing backs stretched the Dortmund wingers as they didn’t know whether to press out wide or to press the outside CB, which increased the distances between Reus and Bellingham which opened passing lanes into the wingers.
