Thanks to a narrow but deserved 1-0 win over Sporting Lisbon, Borussia Dortmund celebrated their second win in Group C in their second game.
BVB coach Marco Rose was able to rely on Reus again after the 1-0 defeat at Borussia Mönchengladbach, but not yet on goalscorer Haaland (muscular problems). In total, Rose made two changes: Instead of Pongracic and Moukoko (both on the bench), Hazard and the BVB captain played.
Sporting coach Ruben Amorim also decided to make two changes after the 1-0 home win against Maritimo Funchal in the league, namely on his left side. Matheus Reis and Tiago Tomas played there instead of Ruben Vinagre and Nuno Santos (both on the bench). Captain Coates, still suspended in the 5-1 defeat to Ajax on Matchday 1 of the Champions League, was eligible to play again.
Dahoud in bad luck – Painting quite precise
The game started with an unscheduled change for Rose and BVB, as Dahoud had to go off early on with knee problems after a press knock. Also, because Dortmund played about five minutes shorthanded before Brandt’s substitution, the Westphalians need some time to find their way into the game. Only after a big mistake by Coates in his own penalty area did Reus have his first clear finish (19th);
But Sporting also looked for the way forward again and again. After a serious set-up error by Hummels, who overlooked Paulinho, the latter’s somewhat rash finish was just saved by Akanji (23rd). Dortmund continued to be offensive and had more of the play, but mostly lacked the final pass. On several occasions, Malen & Co. fell into the Portuguese offside trap.
But a single successful move led to the lead in the 37th minute: Akanji played Bellingham centrally in the Sporting half. And the Englishman, who at 18 years and 91 days became the youngest player in Champions League history to start for the tenth time, played beautifully into the path of Malen, who slotted in precisely for his first competitive goal for Borussia. The 1:0 was also the score at the break.
BVB and the offside trap
The second half turned out to be less eventful than the first, with Dortmund scoring two more offside goals (Reus 48th, Malen 74th). However, opportunities in accordance with the rules remained rare on both sides, even if Sporting showed more initiative as the game progressed, but hardly ever came close to the penalty area against the early disruptive Borussia.
BVB remained dangerous, Guerreiro was just blocked after a counterattack (65.). Despite an attacking triple change for the last minutes plus injury time by Sporting coach Amorim, it was not really dangerous in front of Kobel’s goal and so the Westphalians finally scored their second win in the second game.
BVB continue their league campaign on Saturday (3.30pm) at home to Augsburg, while Sporting visit FC Arouca six hours later. In the Champions League, BVB’s top match is at Ajax on Tuesday 19 October (9pm). Sporting play at Besiktas just a few hours earlier from 6.45pm.
