Borussia Dortmund showed a committed performance against AC Milan – but it wasn’t rewarded in the end. In the second game, RB Leipzig suffered their first defeat.
Despite a strong fighting performance, Borussia Dortmund still has to wait for its first win of the season in the Champions League. Coach Edin Terzic’s team couldn’t get past a 0-0 draw against top Italian football club AC Milan on Wednesday evening. After two games in awesome Group F, which also includes Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United, BVB only has one point. In front of 81,365 spectators in the atmospheric Dortmund stadium, the Revierclub played with commitment, created chances, but was too imprecise in front of the goal.
In the second group game of the premier class, RB Leipzig suffered their first defeat. The Saxons lost 1:3 (0:1) against defending champions Manchester City. This means that RB also missed out on making amends for the bitter 7-0 defeat against the English in March. In front of 45,228 fans, world champion Julian Alvarez scored the late goals for Manchester in the 84th minute and 1:3 Jeremy Doku (90+2). Lois Openda (48th minute) had previously equalized City’s first lead by Phil Foden (25th).
BVB played as they had in previous Bundesliga games: without any big spectacle. But at least Borussia impressed from the start with their compactness and aggressiveness against the ball. Milan only became dangerous in the 37th minute when Olivier Giroud suddenly got the ball free in front of Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel – but pushed it over the goal.
Otherwise, the hosts worked their way into the duel with the Italians little by little. The shots from Donyell Malen (28th) and Niclas Füllkrug (31st) just missed the goal, and an overhead kick from Julian Brandt (36th) just went over. Whenever the guests became dangerous, it was almost always through the extremely fast Rafael Leão on the left wing.
In order to stop the Portuguese international, Terzic relied on the usual back four around veteran Mats Hummels. Niklas Süle was once again only on the bench, while captain Emre Can was allowed to play from the start again. The 29-year-old led the way in midfield with healthy toughness and received a questionable yellow card in the 25th minute. The action was symbolic of the Dortmund game.
Terzic’s team worked, fought – and relied on Brandt’s creativity offensively. Almost all attacks were initiated by the national player. After the disappointing 2-0 defeat at the start against Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia wanted to improve offensively this time. However, it was not always possible to find space against the deep-lying guests.
Dortmund leave scoring opportunities unused
From this compact defense, Milan played on the counterattack. In addition to the fast Leão, the Italians relied on another speed dribbler who is well known in Dortmund: Christian Pulisic, who was active for BVB until 2019. In the 54th minute, the American suddenly had a great chance to take the lead, but was denied by Kobel from a few meters.
Such rooms were available to the guests because BVB really wanted to take the lead. Terzic went for the win and brought in the fast offensive players Karim Adeyemi (64th) and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (72nd). The BVB coach tirelessly encouraged his players on the sidelines, but Dortmund lacked precision in finishing for long periods of the game. And in the end the hosts were lucky too.
First, Milan’s striker Samuel Chukwueze (86′) was denied by Kobel, who reacted strongly again, and Tijjani Reijnders’ follow-up shot narrowly missed. But Dortmund also had more chances in a game that was now becoming increasingly open – but, as before, they didn’t take advantage of them.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
