Talking points from Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 win over Hoffenheim

Formation Shifts in Transition

Edin Terzic set up his team in a 4-1-4-1 shape, instructing Emre Can to sit in front of the backline, while the rest of the midfield was focused on stopping Hoffenheim’s long ball attempts to find their forward players in space. When Borussia Dortmund would retrieve the ball, the goal was to break quickly and counter. With the speed of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Julian Brandt, Marius Wolf, and Raphael Guerreiro on the wings, Dortmund looked to exploit the spaces left behind by Hoffenheim’s attacking wing-backs.

When BVB were attempting to build up from the back, they would line up in a 3-4-3 formation. This transition occurred by allowing the full-backs to push forward and having Emre Can sit in between the central defenders. This enabled Reus, Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens, and Bellingham to attempt to outnumber and overload the midfield.

This approach was successful for the majority of the game, however, after the 65th minute, Borussia Dortmund’s work rate and efficiency had reduced a great deal, as they left loads of spaces in between the lines, allowing the opposition to create a number of chances in the latter stages of the game.