Borussia Dortmund opened their 2015-16 Bundesliga account on Saturday night with a crushing 4 – 0 win over rivals Monchengladbach, looking ready to move on from their disappointing run last season.
Henrik Mhikitaryan starred for the hosts, as Lucien Favre’s side had no answer to the relentless pressing and possession football of BVB, new manager Thomas Tuchel’s first match going better than planned.
Outside90’s David Jordan takes a look at the major talking points coming out of the match.
Is Lucien Favre’s system undone by pace and pressing?
During the defeat, Borussia Dortmund’s pace and fluidity of movement was what contributed to almost all their chances, with Monchengladbach’s static backline undone by quick release passing and running. On top of this, the visitors seemed to struggle to cope with Dortmund’s high, aggressive pressing system – often having trouble finding outlet distribution from the back, or turning the ball over in the midfield.
Going forward, the Foals often lost possession near the top of the 18-yard box, resulting in Dortmund being able to counter with players already in behind Granit Xhaka in Monchengladbach’s centre. Against many other teams without Dortmund’s level of press and pace this may not be such an issue, however, if it proves to be a weakness, then teams will learn to exploit it.
[interaction id=”55d021828768712c75bcccd3″]
Monchegladbach’s inexperienced backline shows.
With a combined age of 39 years between Andreas Christensen and Marvin Schulz at centre-back for Favre’s side, experience was always going to be lacking, but the degree of effect it would have could not be foretold. The two youngsters were ruthlessly harried and hassled by Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with his pace and pressing causing no end of probems.
Their seeming inability or lack of confidence to marshal the midfield in front of them often allowed Dortmund runners in between the banks of four, allowing the hosts to exploit gaps in the defence far too easily. While the two are young, and still have plenty of time left, Favre may be wise to develop them at a slower rate, otherwise more teams will cause them the same problems.
Reus rediscovers greener pastures after injury blues.
Having originally moved from Monchengladbach to Dortmund, Marco Reus scored a brace in his first appearance against his former team, however, had failed to find the net in his past three games, and has not provided a single assist. But overnight the dangerous winger picked up one of each, opening the scoring for Dortmund with a lashing finish.
The German international set up team mate Henrik Mhikitaryan later on with a calm cut-back, but the major promise out of the match for Dortmund fans was to see him back to his brilliant best, running at defenders, providing solid passes and joining in on the press. After one game it is far too early to say, but Reus may very well be able to lift Dortmund up to past heights this season.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
