Juventus 4 – 4 Borussia Dortmund: Still Champions League Entertainers But Dortmund Have Glaring Holes

In what was an unbelievable opening Champions League match for a neutral to watch, for Borussia Dortmund fans, their clash with Juventus in Turin is one that probably left a taste as bad as dried Bratwurst in their mouths by the end.

A game pre-kick-off, many would have felt they would have been lucky to get a point from, Dortmund took control from the start, though in a game that finished 4-4 amazingly had zero goals in the first half.

In 40 crazy second-half minutes which averaged a goal every five, going forward, Dortmund looked exciting, at the back though, the same old problems persist.

Defensive Destruction Overshadowed Attacking Artistry

Each time that Juventus went forward they looked like scoring, though their team was littered with talent, including new signings Lois Openda and Jonathan David, plus teenage sensation Kenan Yildiz who scored a wonder goal.

Like Juventus, Dortmund had an array of attacking talent, including star striker, Serhou Guirassy, who didn’t score on this occasion and Karim Adeyemi who struck the opener.

In just four second half minutes, three goals were scored. Yildiz curled in spectacularly from the edge of the box, before Feliz Nmecha drilled a low drive two minutes later and substitute Dusan Vlahovic dispatched a smart one-on-one finish only a couple more after.

At this point, the score stood at 2-2 and there was a relative calm about proceedings until 10 minutes later when Yan Couto caught out goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, arrowing in at his near post from outside the box.

Dortmund looked to have sealed the game on 86 minutes when Remy Bensabainy converted a penalty, before their defence switched off.

In the 94th minute, Bensabainy gave the ball away trying to be cute, allowing Pierre Kalulu to deliver a delicious ball for Vlahovic to beat Julian Ryerson all too easily and tap in.

Two minutes later, Vlahovic turned provider, whipping in a superb cross for Lloyd Kelly to beat three Dortmund defenders with a diving header to tie the game.

Dortmund Need Rearguard Reinforcements Fast

Going forward, the team looks fine. Scoring goals is not an issue. Keeping them out is and it’s easy to feel sorry for goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who, with a better quality defence in front of him would be conceding a lot less.

A club under Jurgen Klopp, whose side way back when, that had a strong foundation built on the formidable bedrock of Mats Hummels and Matija Nastasic with Sven Bender protecting, no longer has that intimidating presence.

Weaknesses were exposed all too easily against Juventus and there must be a major improvement if the club is going to move forward this season. The way in which Juve’s attackers were allowed to run in behind time and again and balls could be pinged into the box without obstruction are telltale signs that what they currently have simply isn’t good enough. Not at this standard. Maybe not even for the club itself.

On a night where the main talking points should have been about Dortmund’s attacking edge, the spotlight has been shone all too clearly on defensive liabilities. The next transfer window can’t come soon enough.