First the two most important news, after the rendezvous with the supposedly best team on the planet: Borussia Dortmund has reached the round of 16 of the Champions League. And: Jude Bellingham’s ankles hurt after the game, so he ended the evening in socks. You can also say: There have been zero numbers with fewer events – but it was also one of those Champions League games in the group phase, in which both parties flirt with a draw even before the whistle and without too many thriller moments, especially about the execution goes.
BVB coach Edin Terzic wanted to be happy “that after three defeats we finally got through to the end against Manchester City this time”. Colleague Pep Guardiola, on the other hand, said he saw a “big problem” – just because Riyad Mahrez missed another penalty, just like in the last game in Copenhagen, when City also only played 0-0. But of course Guardiola would have a few other players in his squad that he could assign to take a penalty. A certain Erling Haaland, for example. In any case, after Guardiola’s melodramatic statement, some will have thought: I would like to have your problems!
Had a good grip on the former team-mate: Mats Hummels (left) keeps Manchester’s Erling Haaland in check.
(Photo: Martin Meissner/AP)
In fact, Mahrez’s penalty, which Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel fended off with ease in the 58th minute, was the first shot by Guardiola’s players on the Borussia goal that Kobel had to fend off. Haaland, who is usually difficult to stop, had already been taken off the trainer at half-time because the former Dortmund player seemed to be in such good hands with Mats Hummels, who was again very strong, that a change in this situation was no longer to be expected. At least not from Guardiola’s sometimes idiosyncratic point of view.
Edin Terzic, who spent two years as Slaven Bilic’s assistant coach at West Ham United in the English Premier League, said: “I’ve rarely seen a Manchester City game where they didn’t shoot so little at the opposing goal .” That was probably not just the subjective impression of the coach. But it was hard to tell if City’s busy circus troupe were waiting that night to see if they had to put much effort into scoring themselves. Mats Hummels summed it up afterwards: “It’s incredibly exhausting how you have to play against them with the utmost attention all the time, because they can do something out of nothing at any time.” In the end, neither Terzic nor Hummels was able to say with what degree of final determination City was in the matter that evening.
“After the break,” said Mats Hummels happily, “we did a fantastic job. We suffered, we fought.”
It was clear that Dortmund had significantly better chances in the first half. With very good pressing, Guardiola’s passing machine, which is basically designed for 100 percent ball possession, was repeatedly thrown out of rhythm. And above all, thanks to Karim Adeyemi, who was able to use his enormous sprint speed against the English, who were always defending very high, BVB had three or four good opportunities. Hummels thought: “We have to be in the lead by at least one goal, maybe even two goals before half-time.” After the break, Hummels continued, “we did a fantastic job. We suffered, we fought”. In the end, Adeyemi, Brandt, Reyna and Moukoko didn’t have to mourn their missed chances.
In contrast to last year, when coach Marco Rose, now with RB Leipzig, was eliminated in the group stage after some embarrassing games in the Champions League, this time FC Sevilla is already sufficiently distanced and the last game at FC Copenhagen has , apart from the prize money (1.5 million euros), more of a statistical value. Dortmund’s usually best, Jude Bellingham, this time only trumped by Hummels, said afterwards: “Moving through means a lot to me. The fact that we didn’t make it last year was one of the saddest moments of my time as a footballer.”
On Saturday evening, however, Bellingham and Co. are again concerned with not being eliminated early – this time from the championship race. Dortmund have to play at Eintracht Frankfurt, who have been showing impressively good form for a few weeks. The fact that the former Dortmund player Mario Götze, of all people, is vehemently recommended as a playmaker for his return to the national team, i.e. for a World Cup nomination from Hansi Flick, probably doesn’t make things any easier for BVB.