Borussia Dortmund player ratings from 3-1 defeat to Sporting CP
By Tushar Bahl
![Borussia Dortmund players look dejected after their game against Sporting (Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images) Borussia Dortmund players look dejected after their game against Sporting (Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/37f9a2001528e60178d4cd1f889675e573b120606e1cc7c59a79ce99d2e8ba2f.jpg)
Thomas Meunier (5/10)
Meunier made some dangerous forward runs but didn’t know what to do in the final third with no Erling Haaland to feed crosses to. The Belgian international did set up the own goal early in the second half, but he was very clearly offside for it and so the goal was ruled out.
Manuel Akanji (6/10)
Akanji did all he could in defence and was certainly not at fault for the defeat. He positioned himself well for the majority of the 90 minutes and also helped out with the build-up play. He played an excellent forward pass to find Malen in the first half, but the Dutch striker wasn’t able to make the most of it.
Marin Pongracic (4/10)
Unlike Akanji, Pongracic did not look too comfortable in defence. He should have done better to prevent the first goal from happening, and then just stood there and watched as Goncalves scored his second from the edge of the box.
Nico Schulz (3/10)
Schulz came into the starting XI just minutes before kick-off as Raphael Guerreiro suffered a muscle injury. He never looked comfortable and was also at fault for the opening goal before being substituted at half time.
But it is worth noting that Schulz only returned to training on Monday after a long injury lay-off. And he wasn’t going to play from the start until Guerreiro suffered an injury during the warm-up. It is never easy to get called into the starting XI at the last minute, and so one has to feel a bit sorry for the left-back.