Attack
The attack of Dortmund did a much better job overall, as clearly seen by the scoreline. The apparent improvement I recognized was the progressive carries by the Dortmund wingers. The first game against Barcelona saw only two Dortmund players carry into the penalty area. This was dwarfed by Barcelona’s total of eleven carries in the 18-yard box during the match. BVB improved to nine such carries on Tuesday, six of which came from the starting wingers. The ability to advance the ball was also evident in the total progressive carrying distance from the starting front three; the first leg totaled 76 yards, while the second achieved a significantly better 186 yards.
Serhou Guirassy again lacked touches, as he was the player with the lowest number (22) among all who played the full 90 minutes. One goal for about every seven touches is just ridiculous. While he had more touches last week (29), on Tuesday, he had an increase in all of the following categories: progressive carry distance, touches in the opposition’s penalty area, successful take-ons, shots, and most importantly, goals.
In the first leg, Adeyemi had one carry of over 10 yards; on Tuesday, he had six carries of over 10 yards. Four of his carries were into the opposition’s penalty area - a match high. One hundred ten yards of progressive distance with the ball was also a match high for attackers and midfielders.
Beier was unable to do as much as Adeyemi on the ball, but something to note was that over half of his touches were in the attacking third. He also progressed the ball well, with 64 progressive yards and two carries into the penalty area.