Despite the hammer group, Borussia Dortmund reached the round of 16 of the Champions League early. An away coup at AC Milan is enough. Who would have thought that before?
Borussia Dortmund mastered the toughest group in the Champions League with flying colors and reached the round of 16 early. Even in the hot atmosphere of San Siro, coach Edin Terzic’s team kept a cool head and consolidated their lead in the table with a 3-1 (1-0) victory over AC Milan.
This means that BVB, which was previously only considered an outsider, is spared a final on the last preliminary round matchday on December 13th against Paris Saint-Germain.
In front of 75,600 spectators, Marco Reus (10th/foul penalty), Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (59th) and Karim Adeyemi (69th) ensured the second away coup for the fourth-place team in the Bundesliga after the 1-0 win in Newcastle. Samu Chukwueze (37th) managed to equalize for Milan. The victory boosts BVB’s self-confidence for the top Bundesliga game on Sunday against the previously unbeaten league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Anyone who had hoped for a better start for BVB after the turbulent 4-2 win against Gladbach was initially deceived. Less than six minutes had been played when full-back Julian Ryerson made a bad pass while going forward. The hosts’ counterattack landed on Chukwueze, whose shot in the penalty area hit Nico Schlotterbeck’s upper arm – there was a questionable penalty that Gregor Kobel strongly defended against Olivier Giroud.
Dortmund then played with concentration, just as maturely as they had in the first half at Newcastle United a few weeks ago. Terzic initially did without Salih Özcan and Julian Brandt, who were on the bench due to colds. But the starting eleven did well, BVB repeatedly threatened the Italians, some of whom moved up high, with their fast wingers.
Until what happened so often in the past happened again: inattention on the defensive. The nimble Chukwueze got to the ball on the right wing and neither Bynoe-Gittens nor Ramy Bensebaini went into a duel with the Nigerian; at best they provided support. The 24-year-old thanked him and shot the equalizer from a tight angle.
It was one of those typical patterns that BVB keeps falling into. Almost everything actually went well, especially the concentration was largely right this time. The Milanese continued to press high after the break, but Borussia mostly defended safely and consistently. However, there were minor misfires. Luckily for the guests, the AC also afforded this.
Because, like the Dortmund defense, the Italians didn’t really intervene when BVB got through in front of the box after almost 60 minutes. After a fine assist from Marcel Sabitzer, Bynoe-Gittens finally got the ball and flicked it flat into the left corner. The first good attack after the break gave Dortmund the lead again.
Shortly afterwards, Terzic somewhat surprisingly replaced the young goalscorer. But the coach’s ideas paid off. Instead of the Englishman, substitute Adeyemi shone, as the Milan defense again gave him too much space and thus made it 3-1.
Source: Stern
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