PSG 2-0 Borussia Dortmund: Key takeaways from Champions League defeat

Borussia Dortmund’s UEFA Champions League group stage campaign began with defeat to PSG, building further skepticism regarding the club’s aspirations and ability.

Borussia Dortmund fell to a 2-0 defeat in their UEFA Champions League group stage opener against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. It was a timid performance from the Black and Yellows, who looked bereft of confidence after their bumpy start to the season.

Surprisingly, Edin Terzić changed the formation and reverted to a back five with no natural strikers in the team. His strategy worked for a while – as BVB managed to keep a clean sheet in the first-half. However, PSG found their rhythm after the break and carved open the Dortmund defence with relative ease to get the three points..

Here are a few takeaways from Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 defeat to PSG.

Borussia Dortmund gave PSG full control of the game

Many were left surprised when Borussia Dortmund’s line-up was announced. Edin Terzić decided to play with a back five and no natural strikers, with Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi as the options up front as Sebastien Haller was benched.

When defending, BVB lined up in a 5-3-2 with Brandt composing a three-line in the midfield. This formation allowed the team to stay compact at the back and keep Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé at bay in the first-half. This game plan gave Dortmund certain defensive stability for most of the first 45 minutes, as PSG struggled to infiltrate the lines and create clear cut chances.

This setup also had its holes, especially when the blocks were too low, which provided PSG with open shooting lanes from outside the box. But it is fair to claim that Terzić, to an extent, proposed a clear and well-defined strategy at first.

However, once PSG took complete control over the possession BVB struggled to get out of their own half and were often left stranded.

Once Mbappé scored that penalty, the plan went down the drain, and BVB were obligated to change their whole mindset mid-game. And that change in mindset did not arrive until PSG were 2-0 up and the game was already over as a contest.