B-V-Briefing: Two important wins and a tough road ahead
By Joseph Meyer
Borussia Dortmund competed in two important games over the last week and were victorious in both. First, the Black and Yellows hosted PSV Eindhoven in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League last 16. The match began with an aggregate score of 1-1, but Jadon Sancho found the opener after just three minutes of play. The Englishman has been finding his form for Dortmund; this was his second goal in two games.
BVB proceeded to play some of their best attacking football of the season for about thirty minutes before dropping back into the familiar park-the-bus routine. It was a hotly contested match, but Dortmund’s defence held strong and Marco Reus put the tie to rest after pouncing on a mistake from PSV’s Isaac Babadi in stoppage time. A quarterfinal match against Atletico Madrid awaits.
The weekend saw Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt in a very physical match. Not only had Dortmund not won any of their last five league games following a Champions League match, they were winless against top-six Bundesliga teams this season. But in the end, Dortmund overcame the visitors 3-1 to hold onto fourth place.
The tactics utilized in this match were more promising than what BVB had shown in recent weeks with stronger build-up play and squad cohesion. Former BVB player Mario Götze opened the scoring with a stunning strike. The opportunity was created after a poor mistake from Nico Schlotterbeck. BVB managed to level the match before halftime after an impressive run from Donyell Malen and a mature finish from Karim Adeyemi.
The second half was evenly contested with the ball turning over many times in the midfield. Veteran defender Mats Hummels headed in Dortmund’s second goal off a free kick from Julian Brandt, breaking the deadlock. Finally, Emre Can sealed the win with a cool penalty kick in stoppage time. Interestingly, Emre Can was on the receiving end of a red card in this match, which VAR overturned - Fair Play to Tobias Stieler.