AC Milan 1-3 Borussia Dortmund: Three takeaways as Edin Terzic’s side secure CL last 16 spot

Gregor Kobel is one of the world’s best goalkeepers – but Borussia Dortmund should not be over reliant on him

If it wasn’t for Gregor Kobel’s heroics early on, the trajectory of the game could have been very different. That sentence in a nutshell can timelessly be applied to most BVB games this season and last.

The Swiss goalkeeper’s importance to the side cannot be understated and he came up clutch against Milan as well when he impressively saved Olivier Giroud’s penalty early on. The Frenchman had not missed a penalty this season, but he did not have Gregor Kobel staring him down until now. The 25 year old had more of an influence in the first-half as he made some good saves (3 in total on the night) and was brave in punching and collecting the ball from set pieces where necessary. He even briefly injured himself as a result of this bravery.

It is often the indication of a poor display when a goalkeeper is consistently the MVP in a team. That has been apparent in a season where Terzic’s side have not thus far gone on a convincing run of wins, with many questions facing the depth and quality of the defensive setup. The standards of defending must be raised in order to ease the burden on Kobel, who has proven that he is more than capable of saving the day whenever called upon.