The PSV Eindhoven players did not follow protocol. But only at the beginning: when choosing sides. Borussia Dortmund’s footballers always expect two gestures of politeness from their guests: firstly, that they let them play on the yellow wall in the second half, in their huge standing stand with 25,000 fans, and secondly, that they don’t get too excited about winning be prevented. The Dutch won the side selection, but the hosts won the game. With a 2-0 (1-0) win after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Borussia moved into the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in three years.
What was helpful in this endeavor was that winger Jadon Sancho, on loan from Manchester United, had given Dortmund a 1-0 lead after just 175 seconds. When Sancho limped off the field in the 74th minute, Dortmund were still leading thanks to his goal, but with a bit of luck they saved themselves over time against Eindhoven’s increasingly strong team. Marco Reus made it 2-0 late in stoppage time.
“I think it was a good game for us, especially in the first half,” said Emre Can on broadcaster Dazn. When we play football like this, we are a really great team. We’re just looking forward to the quarter-finals.
Because central defender Nico Schlotterbeck was suspended, coach Edin Terzic had to restructure his defensive line. He chose Niklas Süle at right-back and Can and Mats Hummels inside. Salih Özcan took over Can’s position in the central defensive midfield. It was the defensive half of the line-up that struggled in the 1-1 draw in Eindhoven in the first leg. Hummels, who has been in the starting line-up 14 times in the Bundesliga so far, but not at all this calendar year, was by no means just Schlotterbeck’s replacement for Terzic. “Mats is in the starting line-up for the eighth time in the eighth Champions League game,” said Terzic before the game, alluding to rumors that the relationship between Hummels and him was challenging.
When the game was half an hour old, it felt like Dortmund could have already been leading 3-0. But apart from Sancho’s precision shot, no other ball wanted to go in. This threatened to take revenge when the Eindhoven team, driven by their angry coach Peter Bosz (formerly BVB), took over the game after half an hour. Dortmund’s lead was in danger. Eight minutes after the restart, substitute Hirving Lozano only hit the outside post. The stadium became quieter and the game became more and more exciting.
BVB is lucky that the Eindhoven team doesn’t take advantage of their chances
Eindhoven, who lead the Dutch league by ten points and will soon be champions, showed Dortmund in their stadium at times. BVB lost a little bit of control, but as in the first leg, Eindhoven’s biggest shortcoming was in exploiting their chances. And so Dortmund maintained their thin lead over time before Reus brought the final celebration.
It has been three years since BVB last reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They were eliminated there at the time with two 1-2 defeats against Manchester City, but in the Bundesliga they had a series of seven wins in the last seven games of the season during that period and, having previously been fifth in the table, they took third place and thus the Champions League qualification and won the DFB Cup against Leipzig. In those weeks it became clear that Terzic would be Dortmund’s coach of the future – and now he and his team are facing a very similar challenge again. The self-confidence from the feeling of being one of the best eight clubs in Europe in the Champions League should help the sometimes fragile team in the upcoming Bundesliga tasks to secure at least fourth place and qualify for the Champions League for the ninth time in a row to qualify.
The win against Eindhoven could turn out to be a particularly important one for BVB in the current season, not only because of the additional ten million euros in bonuses and not only because it gives Terzic, who is constantly criticized, a few good arguments. Over the next six and a half weeks, the team will face direct opponents Frankfurt, Bayern, Stuttgart, Leverkusen and Leipzig, and the place for the Champions League will be at stake. Being represented in the European premier class at the same time could help the team, which sometimes seems unsettled, to be more consistent. Even little things can be helpful, for example the draw for the quarter-finals on Friday. Then BVB will be on everyone’s lips, and that can help in a Bundesliga game like on Sunday: against Eintracht Frankfurt.