Attackers Assessments
Jamie Gittens: As Barcelona terrorized Ryerson down the right side, could Gittens have helped Ryerson more than he did? Gittens was the better of the two wingers but still did not do much on the day. He was unable to get much on the ball, and his only memorable moment on the night was a cut in from the left and a shot directly at the goalkeeper. Could Dortmund have used his pace better or moved him to the left earlier? Gittens had only 28 touches and only one ball carry of 10 yards or more - both wingers of Barcelona had 5.
Karim Adeyemi: Subbed at halftime, Adeyemi was disappointing to watch today. His foul in the 24th minute was silly, and it earned him a yellow card. The result of the set piece was a goal for Barcelona. He was clearly frustrated throughout the game and needed to be subbed at halftime. Adeyemi finished the night with 1 of 8 ground duels won. He was unable to do much on the ball, as he only progressively carried the ball a total of 16 yards. His last two starts resulted in 91 and 80 yards in progressive distance from ball carries.
Serhou Guirassy: There may have been a body double playing on the pitch in Barcelona. BVB’s clinical striker was replaced by someone who was unable to do much of anything during the entire game. Guirassy was unable to connect with the ball on two of his first-half opportunities and left the game with a .54 xG. The only thing he did well was win his aerial duels at a rate of 71%. While he had a poor game, he also did not receive enough service. Guirassy had only 32 touches in the match- the least of all players that played 90 minutes.
Maximilian Beier: An honorable mention right here. Subbed in at halftime, Beier seemed to do a better job at covering Balde than Gittens did in the first half. Beier had only 21 touches on the night, but he did win 3 of his four duels. If his goal were onside, maybe Dortmund fans would have some hope for next week.
Final assessment: Dortmund's attackers were unable to bring the ball down the field in the same way that the Barcelona players did. BVB’s starting three had zero carries into the final third and only one into the penalty area. Barcelona’s wingers had a total of 230 progressive yards from carries with the ball compared to just 56 from Beier, Adeyemi, and Gittens.