Borussia Dortmund were the reason for their own downfall as they lost 3-2 to Hansi Flick’s Barcelona after a strong performance and two goals down

An even first 45 at Signal Iduna Park. Barcelona had the best chances at the start by repeatedly throwing the ball in front of the goal, but no player could keep it out. Dortmund then began to grow into the game, with Julien Duranville being particularly impressive. As we approached half-time, Dortmund had the better chances, but none of them could really trouble Inaki Pena in the Blaugrana goal.

The second half was much livelier than the first and from the way both teams played you would have thought that Barcelona would be the team exposed by their high line, but it was Dortmund. Raphinha, one of Europe’s most experienced players, was played through and pushed past Gregor Kobel to open the scoring. However, the Catalans would not hold the lead for long as Dortmund would win a penalty before Serhou Guirassy converted it.

The Dortmund defense then began to let them down as Ferran Torres was left wide open at the back post to feed the ball in following a fumble from Kobel, but this time Dortmund took advantage of Barca’s high line, which was provided by substitute Pascal Groß His and Dortmund’s second goal of the game played in Guirassy. A mix-up on defense would then be Dortmund’s downfall. After a corner, Groß’s poorly placed pass and a mix-up on the halfway line allowed Barca to counter and receive a pin pass from Lamine Yamal, Torres would score the winning goal.

First of all, it’s worth mentioning that Nico Schlotterbeck was one of Dortmund’s best players that evening and looked like a rock at the back. However, Dortmund’s defense was one of the reasons why they lost this game, especially since the third goal was due to a defensive mixup. Added to this, there were times when Dortmund’s full-backs looked like they couldn’t cope with Barcelona’s wingers and Bensebaini struggled against Yamal, but let’s be honest, who hasn’t?

One major positive from this defeat was Duranville. The Belgian was deployed against one of the biggest teams in the world and put in a solid performance in the first half. The winger faded in the second half, but overall it was a step in the right direction for Duranville.

Borussia Dortmund:

Gregor Kobel (4)Julian Ryerson (5)Emre Can (5)Nico Schlotterbeck (7)Ramy Bensebaini (5)Felix Nmecha (6), Marcel Sabitzer (5)Julien Duranville (6)Giovanni Reyna (3)Jamie Gittens (5)Serhou Guirassy (7)

Others: Yan Couto (5), Pascal Groß (5), Donyell Malen (5)

GGFN | Jack Meenan