“We always make it complicated for ourselves”: Mats Hummels annoyed by Borussia Dortmund’s performance against Sevilla

Mats Hummels was not happy with the way Borussia Dortmund performed against Sevilla, saying that they unnecessarily complicated things for themselves.

Borussia Dortmund missed out on the opportunity to secure their place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Sevilla. Having beaten the Spanish side 4-1 away from home just six days ago, the Black and Yellows delivered a lacklustre performance on Tuesday and weren’t able to take control of the game at any point.

And Mats Hummels was critical of his side’s approach to the game. In an interview after the game, the Borussia Dortmund vice-captain said that they did not show enough football intelligence over the course of the 90 minutes. He also lamented the fact that some players kept trying to play cute and clever passes in the final third, instead of trying to do the right thing.

"“It was not a good game from us,” Mats Hummels told Amazon Prime Video after the game. “After the first goal we started to press at some point and caused Sevilla to lose the ball easily. Then we had a few minutes of dominance. But in the second half, we lost 20 balls easily and let the game become completely open.”“It’s completely unnecessary to perform like that against an unsettled team at home in front of 80,000 fans, because we simply kept losing the ball unnecessarily. That’s not enough game intelligence. I’m sorry, but Sevilla is very unsettled, they were happy with the 1-1 draw here.”“Football is actually a very simple game, but we always make it complicated for ourselves. It has to get into some people’s heads that football doesn’t always have to be sexy.”“You have to do the right thing, find the right solutions and hold on to the ball when things get difficult towards the end. We didn’t manage to do that. I try to communicate that on the pitch as well. But it’s difficult when you feel like there aren’t enough others who are trying to keep pushing forward.”"

Sevilla took the lead early on through Tanguy Nianzou, before Jude Bellingham scored the equaliser for Borussia Dortmund. But neither side was able to find the winning goal in the second half, and the game ended all square.

Despite the result, Borussia Dortmund are still very well placed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds. Edin Terzic’s side need just one point from their final two group stage games to make it to the round of 16. BVB will play host to Erling Haaland and Manchester City on matchday five of the Champions League group stage in two weeks’ time.