With fight and emergency solutions back in the title race

Borussia Dortmund reduced the gap to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich with a difficult 1-0 win at home against Arminia Bielefeld. Findings on BVB’s game.

BVB: No spectacle, but “fought to the end”

It was definitely not a game for football connoisseurs that BVB offered to the 33,000 spectators. The black and yellow could only show complete control of the game in a few phases, and in the first quarter of an hour the completely newly formed back four made a few mistakes with the two sixes in front, which led to promising opportunities for the guests. The goal played into BVB’s hands, of course, but the second goal didn’t want to come – and so Dortmund trembled the three in the final phase over time.

The protagonists then knew how to assess the performance realistically. “It doesn’t always have to be a spectacle,” said goal scorer Marius Wolf and spoke of “homework done”. Emre Can had seen a “disgusting” opponent and “not our best game”. Coach Marco Rose praised his team for “fighting through” the game.

From a statistical point of view, you can’t get a narrower victory than a 1-0, Arminia even scored more shots on the opposing goal than BVB (4:3). In this respect one has to state: If in the Bielefeld urge phase before the final whistle a ball finds its way into the net, the result would probably be similar to the 1:1 against Augsburg: lead, two aluminum goals, but the sack was not closed, hectic final phase, later compensation.

But: In terms of attitude and – the keyword in Dortmund long frowned upon – “mentality” you can’t blame BVB, no matter how manageable it was in terms of play. Dortmund accepted the fight. Not only was almost 60 percent possession of the ball on the match sheet at the end, but also a higher mileage (118.9 km to 117.5 km), more sprints (268:220), more tackles, more balls intercepted – and significantly more won Tackles (almost 57 percent).

Can won 18 of them, who then at DAZN praised that BVB “acted as a team” and didn’t hang their heads when they made mistakes, as they did last time. This is how the home series held up in the end: if BVB leads at the break at Signal Iduna Park this season, there has always been a win so far, on Sunday for the eighth time.

BVB notes: Temporary workers do their own advertising – Haaland is not a factor

1/16

Despite many failures, Dortmund won 1-0 against Arminia Bielefeld. While the right flank convinced, the central midfielders delivered a weak performance. The grades and individual reviews of the BVB players.

2/16

GREGOR KOBEL: I had to grab twice in the first 15 minutes. After that, hardly ever required. Even after changing sides without a real test. All in all a relaxed Sunday. Grade: 3.5.

3/16

FELIX PASSLACK: Got another chance due to the many failures on the defensive – and took advantage of it! Didn’t shy away from going forward and hit some useful crosses. Defensively solid, but also little challenged. Grade: 2.5.

4/16

EMRE CAN: Unnecessarily put Kobel in trouble at the beginning. Otherwise safe in the build-up game. Tried to get the initial voting difficulties under control with clear announcements – and was successful. Important sliding tackle just before the end. Grade: 2.

5/16

MARIN PONGRACIC: The lack of match practice was noticeable in the first few minutes, especially in his passing game, but gained more and more confidence. Against the ball without mistakes. Quick as a thought against Hack (38th). Grade: 3.5.

6/16

NICO SCHULZ: With the strong whimper, he was much more tied on the defensive than his counterpart on the other side. His offensive game suffered as a result. Played some superfluous bad passes. grade: 4

7/16

MAHMOUD DAHOUD: Initially didn’t manage to give the Dortmund game security. Unusually little access to the game. Bad bad pass after the break, which Can could only iron out with a foul. Grade: 4.5.

8/16

AXEL WITSEL: Radiated enormous calm, but sometimes seemed too relaxed. Sometimes too late in duels. Often slowed down on promising attacks. grade: 4

9/16

MARIUS WOLF: An application for further starting eleven assignments! Interpreted his role very offensively, could sometimes be found at the top alongside Malen. Pushed in in a dry striker manner to take the lead. Also playful and self-sacrificing. Grade: 2.

10/16

THORGAN HAZARD: Not always involved in the Reus position, but with a perfectly timed cross for Wolf. Otherwise only dangerous if he rotated to the strong right side. Grade: 3.5.

11/16

JUDE BELLINGHAM: Nice dribbling and a great eye before the 1-0 (21st). As usual, very attentive and with healthy hardness. The personification of conviction. A bit wasted on the left wing though. Grade: 2.5.

12/16

DONYELL MALEN: Very bright, caught a lot of balls. His quick movements put Arminia’s defense under pressure on several occasions. Hit the post early (8th) and just missed making it 2-0 when his shot hit the bottom bar. Grade: 2.5.

13/16

ERLING HAALAND: Was allowed to make his comeback in the 63rd minute, Malen went for him. Put Reyna in the limelight when he had a big chance with a hoe (82nd). Waited for his chance but got nothing. grade: 4

14/16

GIOVANNI REYNA: Also back from the sickbed. He came on for Hazard (63′). Missed the preliminary decision by a few centimetres. Came to no further offensive action. Grade: 3.5.

15/16

JULIAN BRANDT: Somewhat surprisingly not in the starting XI, he was substituted on after 70 minutes for the ailing Wolf. Important action against Okugawa in his own penalty area (81st). Otherwise unremarkable. Grade: 3.5.

16/16

LENNARD MALONY: Substituted for Passlack in the 85th minute to defend the narrow lead. Without rating.

BVB schedule in the coming weeks

date	competition	opponent
Wednesday, March 16, 6:30 p.m	Bundesliga	FSV Mainz 05 (Away)
Sunday, March 20th, 7.30 p.m	Bundesliga	1. FC Cologne, (Away)
Saturday, April 2nd, 6.30 p.m	Bundesliga	RB Leipzig (home)
Friday, April 8th, 8.30 p.m	Bundesliga	VfB Stuttgart (Away)

BVB with ten injuries: Wolf and Can convince in a new role

Although Dortmund did not go into the game shaken by eight corona infections like opponents Bielefeld, the Rose team was still ahead in terms of the number of failures. This time there were ten, including almost the entire central defense with Mats Hummels, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Manuel Akanji. Up front, Erling Haaland could only come off the bench, Marco Reus, Youssoufa Moukoko and Steffen Tigges were also missing.

So Rose completely mixed up his starting eleven: a completely new back four with central defenders Can and Marin Pongracic, Felix Passlack on the right, Jude Bellingham on the left and Wolf as a felt second striker. You wouldn’t think you’d see this formation again anytime soon.

Or does it? After all, the catch-up game against Mainz 05 is on Wednesday (6.30 p.m. live on DAZN) – and Rose’s moves worked out overall. In his extremely offensive role, Wolf was the man of the game, repeatedly moving into the center as a nominal right winger and, alongside Donyell Malen, creating a great deal of danger in the opposing penalty area. He had to go down 20 minutes before the end with neck problems, but Haaland shouldn’t be an option for the starting eleven after his comeback over 30 minutes.

Can didn’t play flawlessly, but won well over half of his duels, had the most ball actions of his team and tried early on to establish himself as a loud driver and emotional fixed point for Dortmund – with success. Bellingham kept digging in the middle but started the day’s goal with a great ball at Hazard.

Meanwhile, right-back Stefan Passlack received special praise after being repeatedly left out of the loop by Arminia and making the best of his chances. Defensively he didn’t miss a beat either, winning 75 percent of his duels. “A giant boy,” Rose said enthusiastically: Passlack deserved a place in the starting XI. Maybe not for the last time.