Maxi Beier (5/10) – Beier replaced Gittens and managed one successful dribble but didn’t do too much otherwise.
Carney Chukwuemeka, Julian Duranville, Niklas Süle, Salih Özcaan, (N/A) – It was fun to see Chukwuemeka’s debut, but these were cameos with no substantial impact on the dying embers of a game.
Niko Kovac (8/10) – While Kovač isn’t without criticism, this was a 3-0 away win, and that puts Dortmund in a very good position for a home second leg. The team could have easily been down a goal at halftime as Sporting cut through the defense on several occasions, but those issues were resolved at halftime. The second half inspired good performances from some of the team’s biggest underperformers of late, and for that, I must give credit to Kovač. I do question his lack of substitutions, however, as once again, he waited to use most of them until after the eighty-fifth minute. Wouldn’t we want Anton or Süle to shore up defenses? Adeyemi, despite his goal, has been injury-prone in longer games. Food for thought, but today, the tactics worked.