Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Sturm Graz: Three Takeaways from gritty win at the Westfalenstadion

Borussia Dortmund’s squad is cooked

Forgive my slang, but watching these guys play after the seventieth minute was painful. Bensebaini was fighting through cramps, Julian Brandt’s forehead was dripping sweat, and Emre Can was stretching his legs for tackles in acrobatic manoeuvres I didn’t know he was capable of. Marcel Sabitzer lasted until the 66th, but he’s been struggling with a knock, and somehow Pascal Groß keeps playing ninety minutes.

These guys are clearly tired, and while Sahin’s tactical system was producing chance after chance in the first-half, the longer this match wore on, the slower the players became, and the more desperately they defended. Many weren’t able to keep up with what the system required, and that led to a very nervy final 20 minutes, with Sturm Graz creating their best chances of the game during that period.

Nuri Sahin has 12 fit senior players, and he chose to field the exact same 11 as he did against Leipzig at the weekend. It’s no surprise the goalscorer was Donyell Malen. He started on the bench again and was the only senior player there; he had plenty of energy when he came on, and used it to help this team win.