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

The Borussia Dortmund full-backs must provide more consistency

Not that there are many options to choose from, but Julian Ryerson and Ramy Bensebaini are the two full-backs that Edin Terzic trusts the most. In such a big game scenario, the two positions on either side of the flank are imperative in preventing overlaps and 2v1 isolations.

In the case of Ryerson, it was one of his poorer performances in a BVB shirt to date as he struggled to contain the right side against the Theo Hernandez/Christian Pulisic combination for most of the night. With a 0% cross accuracy rate and 25% long ball accuracy, it was a poor game all round for the Norwegian.

As for Bensebaini, he struggled against Samuel Chukwueze in the first half. The Algerian was too passive in letting the winger through to score a fantastic equaliser for the Rossoneri. His crossing abilities were below par, and he was doing so pointlessly when Füllkrug was the only man in the box surrounded by Milan players. A similar 0% cross accuracy represented this along with just 1 successful long ball from 5 attempts.

However, Bensebaini grew as the game went on. 7 tackles, 2 interceptions and 5 clearances later, he had a much stronger second-half which included a heroic sliding tackle on Ruben Loftus-Cheek that was a certified goal opportunity. He followed that up with an acrobatic boot in the 73rd minute to stop Chukwueze from going through on goal.

It is apparent that more consistency is needed from both full-backs, as it is difficult to assume what kind of performance they will produce by each game so far this season.