Bundesliga

Insights into the defeat of Borussia Dortmund against VfL Wolfsburg

Published

5 months ago

November 9, 2022

Insights into the defeat of Borussia Dortmund against VfL Wolfsburg

BVB lost its penultimate Bundesliga game in the 2022 calendar year 2-0 at VfL Wolfsburg. It was not the first time that Dortmund slept through the opening phase of a game against the Wolves and showed after going behind that their own game idea is not far off at the moment. And Borussia can’t blame the football god either. The findings on the BVB bankruptcy.

BVB: Weak initial phase will be punished again

The tactics of the wolves were easy to read from Niko Kovac’s line-up: He wanted to pull BVB’s teeth with fast moves with fast players. Edin Terzic is likely to have warned his team against such situations, and in Karim Adeyemi he also ordered another fast player in his starting eleven – even if Adeyemi is not exactly known for his defensive strengths.

Nevertheless, Dortmund seemed completely taken by surprise by the Greens’ route. It could have rang in the 3rd minute after Jakub Kaminski broke through with a simple combination on the right wing, Gregor Kobel defused against Omar Marmoush. The whole thing was repeated two minutes later before the 1-0 finally resulted from a corner. After less than six minutes, Dortmund deservedly fell behind.

After the game, the black and yellow protagonists struggled with their own stumbling start. “It took a while before we accepted the intense game. But then it was already too late because we were behind,” stated Terzic. Mats Hummels spoke of “five bad minutes at the beginning”, and neighbor Niklas Süle criticized: “We didn’t even see the ball in the first five to ten minutes and got back into play very badly”.

Worse still, it’s not the first time Dortmund have been sleepwalking through the opening minutes of a game this season. “It’s inexplicable,” Süle said angrily, “because it happens very, very often.”

BVB grades: Two total failures

1/16

Borussia Dortmund barely gets a chance against VfL Wolfsburg and loses 2-0. Only one showed normal form, two old acquaintances cause problems. The grades and individual reviews of the BVB players during a painful performance.

2/16

GREGOR KOBEL: With a world-class save after just over three minutes in the game, and then with some strong saves. Also important in the build-up game through good positioning. The only BVB player with normal form. Grade: 2.

3/16

NIKLAS SÜLE: When it was 0-1, he probably thought that his opponent, who had run away, would already be forgiven. After that better in the game, but now and then with problems in the running duel, offensively also several times dangerous. Grade: 3.5.

4/16

MATS HUMMELS: VfL rarely got past him, defended aggressively and robustly. In the passing game with one or the other mistake, also because the teammates didn’t move enough. Grade: 3.5.

5/16

NICO SCHLOTTERBECK: Unluckily added a header before the 0:1, occasionally had problems in running duels and was only rarely a factor in the build-up game. grade: 4

6/16

RAPHAËL GUERREIRO: Prevented the 0:2 on the line (32nd) when he was shot, otherwise mostly shaky defensively. Almost all Wolfsburg attacks went through his side. Unclean in the passing game and rarely present offensively. grade: 5

7/16

SALIH ÖZCAN: Hardly noticed, but defended a few counterattacks in the backward movement and otherwise made few mistakes. An important constant in the BVB game. Grade: 3.5.

8/16

JUDE BELLINGHAM: Active and trying as always, but a little unlucky this time because his well-timed passes often lacked precision. Symbolically when he kicked an opponent’s foot and almost injured himself (63′). grade: 4

9/16

JULIAN BRANDT: In the first round in particular, he was very keen on making combinations and almost equalized with his header. But he also lacks luck in the game. Dismantled in the second half, unluckily slipped away at 0:2. grade: 4

10/16

KARIM ADEYEMI: Again not a big win for BVB. Tried a little, but not enough. When he was on the ball, he often slowed down the pace or got stuck. grade: 5

11/16

DONYELL MALEN: Very active, dangerous on both the right and left. For a long time the only BVB player with a real move towards goal. Despite this, he managed little, which created real danger. Note 3.

12/16

YOUSSOUFA MOUKOKO: Good runs, but rarely rewarded. So he often hung in the air. Still had a couple of half-chances that he didn’t make of this time. grade: 4

13/16

GIOVANNI REYNA: Came in for Adeyemi in the 61st minute. Played just as unluckily as many other BVB players and was unable to put his stamp on the game. But made far fewer mistakes and was more committed than Adeyemi. grade: 4

14/16

THORGAN HAZARD: Substituted for Süle in the 71st minute. Without rating.

15/16

ANTHONY MODESTE: Replaced Donyell Malen after 71 minutes. Without rating.

16/16

MARCO PASALIC: In the 80th minute he came on for Özcan. Without rating.

BVB: After falling behind early on, Dortmund is struggling

Dortmund have kept clean and won six times this league season. A win against Frankfurt (2-1) was achieved despite an interim equaliser, while leads were lost against Werder Bremen and 1. FC Köln (both 2-3). And BVB fell 1-0 down on five occasions.

Not too big a sample size, for sure. But it is still striking that Borussia managed to take something with them against SC Freiburg and FC Bayern with late goals – but in the three games in which the 0-1 fell very early, each time without a murmur went down.

BVB: Bundesliga games in which Dortmund trailed 0-1

Gameday	Opponent	conceded in minute	bottom line
2	Friborg (A)	35	3:1
6	Leipzig (A)	6	0:3
9	Bavaria (H)	33	2:2
10	Union (A)	8th	0:2
14	Wolfsburg (A)	6	0:2

Dortmund is not a goal machine in the current season. 23 goals after 14 games are just one more than at VfL Wolfsburg and less than at Werder Bremen or Borussia Mönchengladbach (24 each). BVB is struggling offensively overall, especially when defensively well staggered and organized teams have to play. And that applies twice when you have to chase after an early deficit.

“It’s difficult with the pace they have and the counterattack strength,” analyzed Terzic. All the worse that BVB ran into the open knife at the beginning. And especially away from home, caution should be the top priority anyway, after all things are going particularly badly there (record after seven games: 9 points, 8:12 goals).