Dortmund, Feb 25 (IANS) Despite a narrow 1-2 loss on road, Borussia Dortmund are still expected to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals in the second leg against Italian giants Juventus FC at home March 18.
In the strange first leg in Turin Tuesday, where both teams lost possession far too often, the scoring was opened by Carlos Tevez in the 13th minute before Marco Reus equalised five minutes later. Alvaro Morata restored the lead for the Italians in the 43rd minute, reports Xinhua.
The fundamental question for Dortmund was: How good is the team on the international stage after seemingly having overcome its crisis in the Bundesliga?
The answer is: Dortmund is not yet at the same level as they were last season but the team is getting better and better with every game.
And after all: In Turin Serie A’s top dog was facing the 12th placed Bundesliga team which for a long time was in danger of being relegated to the second division.
Therefore Dortmund can be satisfied with the result despite the fact that the team still has several problems, some of which are down to poor player quality.
Maybe it was a matter of sweet memories that made Juergen Klopp decide upon his system for his first 11. Other than in the Bundesliga, where his team has won its last three games, Klopp selected Italian forward Ciro Immobile as the center forward and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who in the Bundesliga was center forward, started on the right wing. Marco Reus was on the left.
Klopp’s system (4-1-4-1) was exactly the same he had used when Borussia Dortmund beat Real Madrid 2-0 in Dortmund in the second leg of the quarter-final in the 2012/2013 Champions League.
Nuri Sahin was the man right in front of the four-man defence and right behind the two central mid-fielders Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Guendogan. Sahin was somehow Klopp’s special force unit to stop the Juventus strikers.
It worked well for a long time. Dortmund were pressing harder and better than their opponents and were able to launch some quick counter-attacks.
Despite the mistakes when Juventus scored the first goal, Dortmund lost concentration after losing possession and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller’s save wasn’t enough, and then Mats Hummels blundered to hand Juventus the lead.
The game showed clearly that the 2013 Champions League runners-up have not fully recovered from their terrible start of the season. Klopp had to restructure his defence three times after injuries to Lukasz Piszczek, Neven Subotic and Sokratis, and there are not many teams that can manage that.
But the game showed as well that 18 years after the final of 1997 (Dortmund – Juventus 3-1), neither Juventus Turin nor Borussia Dortmund in their current form are among the favourites to win this season’s Champions League.
Juventus might be the Serie A league leaders but the team gives far too much space to its opponent. At home, the team however is not easy to beat. Juventus’ unbeaten home run now stretches to 46 games. The last team to beat them in Turin was Bayern Munich (2-0) in April 2013.
But with Immobile, who is struggling to find his form after a good start to the season, up front, Klopp was not satisfied as the Italian failed to create any good chances. Dortmund switched to Aubameyang attacking down the middle. But the change did not affect Dortmund’s game to the extent Klopp had hoped for.
In the second leg match, Dortmund need to win 1-0 or with a two-goal advantage. It will be a difficult task as Juventus is a team which is able to hold out for a draw away from home.
But looking at the current situation of Dortmund, the narrow defeat in Turin must be regarded as a success as Dortmund have proved that they are on the way back to regaining some semblance of the good form of last season.
Juventus have to be fully concentrated for the second match as Dortmund are not going to be a pushover. “I am not worried for the second game. We still have all chances,” Marco Reus said.
