With a 2-0 (1-0) win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund is back in the fight for the title. At BVB, a full-back and a tactical trick by coach Edin Terzic were particularly impressive. Karim Adeyemi was also able to celebrate his first Bundesliga goal in the black and yellow jersey. Findings on BVB’s victory over Leverkusen.
BVB: Marius Wolf is recommended as a permanent solution
In mid-September, Marius Wolf was last in the starting line-up for a BVB competitive game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Since then, the 27-year-old has only made four short appearances, in which he collected 89 minutes of play. Minor infections, circulatory problems and a loss of balance just before the World Cup break made him miss several games after starting six times in a row between days two and seven.
“Unfortunately he was out for a long time at the end of last year. Luckily we got that under control. We slowly approached him in preparation and in the friendlies,” said coach Edin Terzic after the win B04 in more detail.
During Wolf’s absence, the Dortmund coach tried different variations on the full-back positions. Sometimes Thomas Meunier and Raphael Guerreiro defended on the defensive flanks, sometimes central defender Niklas Süle moved to the outside. Terzic even tried offensive player Thorgan Hazard on the left back of the chain before the winter break. None of these variants really wanted to work out. Even the perhaps strongest line-up on paper, with Guerreiro on the left and new signing Julian Ryerson on the right, did not bring the desired defensive stability – despite the (close) victories against Augsburg and Mainz.
Nevertheless, Wolf’s call to the starting XI came as a surprise to many, after all the 27-year-old wasn’t always completely convincing before the turn of the year. Not infrequently, individual mistakes mixed into his game, especially in the backward movement he left a lot to be desired here and there.
But the right-back seems to have used the winter break. Against the Werkself he was the best player on the field (SPOX rating 2) and impressed on the one hand with a lot of drive and playfulness going forward – he was instrumental in both goals – and on the other hand with defensive composure. Leverkusen had no cuts at all from his side, both Nadiem Amiri and Amine Adli were completely unsubscribed.
“He signaled today that he can start again. He absolutely deserved it. I think he played a really, really good game,” said Terzic, praising his protégé after the final whistle. At the same time he encouraged Wolf to build on the performance against Leverkusen. “We will now measure him against that for the future.”
Further assignments are therefore in prospect for the 27-year-old. Wolf may even have the chance to establish himself as a regular on the right side of defense in the long term. While Ryerson can also be used as a left part of a back four, as against Leverkusen, Thomas Meunier, who is currently injured, is saying goodbye. FC Barcelona should ensnare the Belgian.
Only Mateu Morey would then remain as a competitor. The Spaniard is also extremely injury-prone. With a long-term knee injury, Morey is still a long way from being back at the top level, so Wolf would have plenty of time to prove himself.
BVB: Edin Terzic’s three-man midfield really works
Jude Bellingham naturally returned to the starting XI after being suspended. But instead of rotating the youngster into the first formation for Emre Can or Salih Özcan, Terzic “sacrificed” one of his offensive players. Donyell Malen bit the bullet and had to sit on the bench.
At first, the central three in front of the defensive back four didn’t really seem to pay off. In the first quarter of an hour, Leverkusen repeatedly managed to combine well through the center in the person of Florian Wirtz, Moussa Diaby and Exequiel Palacios. Can and Özcan were repeatedly outplayed with simple balls, there was a lack of coordination between defense and midfield.
But that changed from the middle of the first 45 minutes. Especially Can found its way into the match better and better, closed the gaps between the chains and kept Bellingham’s back free, who acted as a slightly more offensive box-to-box player in front of the six-man duo Can/Özcan. Due to the compact BVB midfield, Leverkusen was repeatedly forced onto the flanks, where Diaby did a good job against the overwhelmed Ryerson, but remained too harmless overall.
Bellingham himself made it possible for the compact, defensive center to intervene in BVB’s attacking game. The 19-year-old was directly involved in both BVB goals. When Karim Adeyemi made it 1-0, he switched quickly and put Julian Brandt in the limelight with a one-two, when it was 2-0 he used his free space for a fantastic ball to Wolf, who ultimately prepared the own goal by B04 central defender Edmond Tapsoba with a cross “.
In the second half, the block of three also made it possible to change the system after Leverkusen switched to a more offensive 4-2-4. Can then dropped between the two central defenders Niklas Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck, with BVB forming a defensive five-man chain as they moved backwards. At the same time, Bellingham dropped to the double six next to Özcan to further strengthen the centre.
“Honestly, we couldn’t find out exactly how Leverkusen wanted to start. That’s why we wanted Emre in this position so that we could drop him between the central defenders in an emergency. That worked well offensively and defensively. We tend to close from behind We were able to break through on the wings again and again”, Terzic explained his decision for the three-man constellation in midfield.
For the coming week, however, the Dortmund coach will have to think about something else for the time being. Özcan would be suspended against SC Freiburg due to his fifth yellow card. The game against the Werkself showed that a three-man formation in the center can work against strong opponents like Leverkusen.
BVB: Karim Adeyemi looks relieved after the first goal
It took 670 minutes for Karim Adeyemi to celebrate his first Bundesliga goal in BVB uniform. After Sébastien Haller wonderfully let a low cross from Julian Brandt pass, the 21-year-old hit the right corner with a left-footed shot against the direction of Bayer keeper Lukáš Hrádecký.
“I told him to let him through. Then he actually let him through. I was a bit surprised then. Now I’m very relieved. I was happy that we took the lead and I scored my first goal. It It was very important that the team believed in me, as did the coach. Hopefully a knot has burst now,” said the scorer after the final whistle, relieved after his first goal in the German top flight.
But even apart from his important first goal against Leverkusen, Adeyemi, who had been criticized so much in the first half of the season, played well. Again and again he intervened in the backward movement and helped out behind man Ryerson in the duels with the lively Diaby. His body language and the intensity of his duel after the seemingly liberating goal were completely different. The fact that he picked up a yellow card on his own baseline after a rude challenge against Jeremy Frimpong should also be seen by Terzic as evidence of a significantly improved grip.
“It’s important to help defensively. Today I didn’t have that many moves forward, the focus was on defence. The yellow card was a bit too much motivation after the goal,” said Adeyemi about his tasks in the game. At the same time, he spoke of a “learning process” that started with him throughout the season.
It is now up to the 21-year-old to confirm these positive impressions in the coming weeks, said Terzic, who backed the youngster after a difficult first half of the season for him. “His 1-0 was outstanding. A beautiful and very important goal, not only for Karim but also for us.”
