Dortmund’s Champions League Flair Showing They Can Go Far This Season
While it’s been a bit of an up and down campaign so far for Dortmund, with a number of talking points raised, the club is in as good a position as it could expect to be.
It was a respectable performance against rivals Bayern Munich last time out in the league, with a 2-1 away defeat and a much better performance defensively as we have been used to seeing from them.
Their recent 4-2 Champions League win, again highlighted the club’s ability to score goals. The club does have an array of exciting attacking talent including star striker Serhou Guirassy who, over the last couple of seasons has proven to be one of the most clinical sharpshooters in Europe on his day.
Does The Club Have The Right Squad For The Champions League?
While there have been questions marks raised about the squad’s defensive capabilities – as highlighted in the dramatic 4-4 draw against Juventus, going forward Dortmund looks very good – even from midfield. They proved this in the 4-1 dismantling of Athletic Bilbao.
New summer signing, Jobe Bellingham is starting to really show what he can do, while his partner in midfield against FC Copenhagen, Felix Nmecha scored two and is also starting to have a major impact. If he continues his form, he will start to catch the attention of clubs around Europe.
Julian Brandt’s experience is starting to prove to be valuable and is starting to get among the goals – his one against Bayern got them back in the game and shifted momentum slightly with Dortmund threatening to grab a point from the encounter.
The different types of players the club has in midfield is also an asset to the club. Nmecha is very much a mix between a box-to-box and a creator, but he can also chip in with goals. Bellingham appears to be the same and can, in time, have the same impact that his brother did at the club.
Fellow summer signing Carney Chuckwuemeka has potential and is similar in style – perhaps the defining quality that each of these three have is that they are natural athletes; easily able to get up and down the pitch.
Emre Can and Pascal Grob, meanwhile, both add valuable defensive experience in the middle of the park – the former having played in many Champions League games.
The exciting complement of attacking quality, including young talents Karim Adeyemi and Julian Duranville, added to the quality of Guirassy and the experience of Fabio Silva gives the squad a further lift, giving them a really good opportunity to be competitive against better opposition.
Key Weakness Will Cause Them Problems
One major flaw is going to stop them from going all the way. Until the club sorts its defensive frailties out, they will continue to pay the price. We saw all too easily against Juventus – and even at times against Copenhagen what they currently have isn’t good enough.
Yes, they do have goal-threats at the back, particularly Ryan Bensabaini, though the club needs better defenders.
