Borussia Dortmund has advanced to the quarter finals of the FIFA Club World Cup following a narrow 2-1 victory over C.F. Monterrey on Tuesday night.The win sets up a far more revealing test of Borussia Dortmund’s progress under Niko Kovač, as they face Spanish giants Real Madrid in New York on July 5.
Dortmund entered this match with justifiable confidence and it was glaring for the first 30 minutes of the match. Kovač’s side lined up in its familiar 5-3-2 shape and dropped Julian Brandt to the bench in favor of a commitment to additional central midfield physicality. The early exchanges of the match demonstrated the deliberate endeavor to congestion the midfield and avoid vertical progression from Monterrey.
Dortmund’s primary aim to generate its own scoring opportunities was to take advantage of a Monterrey backline that was both enabled to progress deep into the BVB low-block and also become susceptible to Karim Adeyemi’s pace in transition. The opening goal was born from a clever interchange between the aforementioned Adeyemi and Serhou Guirassy on the edge of the penalty area as the BVB number 9 slotted home at the near post.
Dortmund’s ever-clinical striker has retained his hot form in this tournament and showed no signs of slowing down. In truth, the goal rattled Monterrey in the minutes that followed. Adeyemi’s speed has begun to cause problems for the Monterrey defense on a couple of occasions, but it finally became fatal in the 23rd minute.
The German international was able to get on the end of a quick fire ball from Julian Ryerson and hold up play in time to set up another perfectly placed finish from the trailing Guirassy. Until this moment, Dortmund had conceded the odd long shot attempt from the Mexican side, but had felt in reasonable control nonetheless.
Until this point, the only notable setback was a yellow card for Dortmund’s Jobe Bellingham. The referee’s fair decision, sadly, means Bellingham will miss the upcoming clash against Real Madrid due to FIFA’s yellow-card accumulation rules, ruling out a matchup with his brother, Jude Bellingham, and former Dortmund midfielder.
However, in the 35th minute, Kovač’s squad began to collectively falter. Their early control gave way to careless errors and lost possession, which Monterrey failed to capitalized on despite not forcing the mistakes. Chaos was gradually heightened until the halftime whistle blew. A general sigh of relief was surely felt, but it would be shortly lived.
The 2nd half introduction was met with no substitutions, but the flow of play picked up precisely where it had left off as BVB lost its grip. One of the most frustrating recurring themes of Dortmund’s last few seasons has been the inability to navigate standard high pressure from opponents. It played its part once again as Ryerson was dispossessed deep in his own half. Enabling Monterrey to deliver a cross and connect with a far-post header to pull within a goal.
Marcel Sabitzer came on for Jobe Bellingham moments later, but was quickly swept up in the increasingly dramatic shift of momentum. Dortmund’s moments of efficiency in transition became scarce while Monterrey enjoyed even more of the ball. A high BVB backline was exploited and nearly punished after a couple of unsettlingly close off-side calls.
Yan Couto and Julian Brandt entered the game after about 70 minutes in an attempt from Kovač to instill some life into a midfield that had grown stale. Ironically, it was the full-back, Couto, who appeared most capable of actually inspiring in central spaces. Linking up with Guirassy on a few occasions and appearing more adept at handling the aggressive challenges from Monterrey’s midfielders.
None of it ultimately resulted in a third goal for Dortmund. As a result, the tension only grew as Sergio Ramos began to drift into the final third as a target forward and BVB submitted to the plot. The seemingly inevitable nearly took place in stoppage time as Ramos finally got his chance to connect on a trademark header.
The cross came in from the right flank, and the veteran defender, climbing higher and simply out-muscling the massive Niklas Süle, saw his effort go inches past the post. This missed opportunity proved to be Monterrey’s last as Dortmund found just enough in the tank to hold on to the win. In the end, BVB must count itself fortunate to have avoided extra time.
Despite not being able to convince for 90 minutes, Guirassy and BVB now have their quarter-final date set with Xabi Alonso’s new-look Real Madrid. If Kovač’s side was set up to concede possession against the likes of Monterrey, then the tactical outlook for an Alonso coached Real is fairly predictable and hardly comforting.
Dortmund’s overall individual quality has been enough to progress in this tournament to this point. This Saturday will provide the biggest test of the summer and is flooded with notable storylines, including the Bellingham reunion (despite Jobe’s suspension) and a familiar touchline hurdle in Alonso.