Key Takeaways from Borussia Dortmund’s season so far

Manchester City loss displayed the intensity Borussia Dortmund need to succeed this season

I wanted to round off talking about the takeaways from the season so far not by looking at a specific player or portion of the squad, but at the team’s performance against Manchester City in the Champions League. Borussia Dortmund went into this game as clear underdogs for a variety of reasons. Everyone expected Erling Haaland and City to run riot, especially taking into account the striker’s form in the Premier League.

And yet, despite defeat at the hands of Haaland and his new teammates, Manchester City did not in fact run riot against this Dortmund side. Despite being on the losing end of of the scoreline, the team’s performance against Manchester City was by far one of the most compact and cohesive performances we’ve seen in some time.

Dortmund’s overall play was very methodical for most of the game. The team’s structure both when defending and in transition was very compact, and their play was not the result of luck or individual skill but very intentional decisions made on the field as a unit.

In defense, Mats Hummels, Niklas Süle and even Thomas Meunier seemed to be on an absolute mission to keep Haaland contained, and for most of the game they achieved this. Haaland only had 4 shots all game, with only one of those being on target (his goal for 2-1). Dortmund’s defense and midfield did everything they could to shut down passes meant for the Norwegian international, and the defenders played a hand in cutting out dangerous situations that involved the striker. It was looked at as almost an impossible task, and yet they performed.

Looking up the pitch, Jude Bellingham worked his magic to open the scoring against City. The team did of course miss many clear openings, the most glaring being captain Marco Reus coming close to finding the back of the net after dancing past former teammate Manuel Akanji. One can’t help but feel that if Dortmund weren’t so bogged down in terms of injuries and missing personnel, that this could have been even more of a contest than it already was.

The point of looking at this game in particular is to show that, Borussia Dortmund showed the exact resolve and mentality needed to compete with Europe’s top clubs. They of course need to maintain this intensity and belief throughout 90 minutes if they want results to go in their favor.

This result also shows that if Borussia Dortmund are able to compete against a team like City, then results against like Leipzig and Bremen are even more unacceptable. The players these teams field are nowhere near the quality that Dortmund faced against City, and while we know that football is unpredictable at this level, more should have been done to avoid the defeats in question. More energy could have been given on the pitch, and more intensity should be displayed moving forward.

Final Thoughts

Looking ahead, Borussia Dortmund truly do have a very intense run of games to look forward to. In the next 5 games, the Black and Yellows will face FC Köln, Sevilla (twice), Bayern Munich, and an in-form Union Berlin side that sits top of the Bundesliga. It will be a run of games that tests the team’s mettle, and yet it is a crucial run of games that may very much dictate the course of the season.

Edin Terzić and his coaching staff will have to look at this first run of games and really try to structure the team in the best way possible to account for the hurdles set before them. From taking a look at what the starting attack should look like, to making sure that lessons are taken from Borussia Dortmund’s better performances and built upon. Terzic will have his work cut out for him to make sure that the team can get as much as possible from this run of games.