Wednesday 04 November 2020
First a little wobbled, then turned up a lot and in the end a little bit spared: Borussia Dortmund does its Champions League task at Club Bruges mostly confidently. Erling Haaland continues his incredible run in the premier class.
Ready for FC Bayern: Borussia Dortmund and Erling Haaland have warmed up for the league summit against the record champions and set course for the round of 16 in the Champions League. In the easily played 3-0 (3-0) at the Belgian champions FC Bruges, striker Haaland once again shone with two goals (18th, 32nd). Thorgan Hazard had given the lead in a furious first half (14th). With six points, the team of coach Lucien Favre sat at the top of the table in Group F even without the injured defense chief Mats Hummels.
Bruges: Mignolet – Clinton Mata, Deli, Kossounou – Vanaken (84. Writers) – Shaper (71. Balanta), Zipper – Sobol, Diatta – Lang (76. De Ketelaere), Dennis (84. Krmencik). – Trainer: Clement
Dortmund: Bürki – Meunier (84. Morey), Delaney (72. Bellingham), Akanji, Guerreiro – Dahoud, Witsel – Brandt (72. Reus), Reyna (77. Passlack), Hazard, – Haaland (84. Reinier). – Trainer: Favre
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
Tore: 0: 1 Hazard (14th), 0: 2 Haaland (18th), 0: 3 Haaland (32nd)
Spectator: no
Yellow cards: no
Special incident: Referee Skomina is replaced by fourth official Dragoslav Peric due to injury (12.)
They are followed by Lazio Rome (5 points) and Bruges (4). With a home win against Bruges on November 24, the German runner-up could make a preliminary decision in the fight for entry into the knockout phase. “We have room for improvement away from home. There is a clear challenge for us to do better,” said sports director Michael Zorc after four consecutive defeats away from home in the premier league.
But Favre turned his team upside down. In contrast to the win in Bielefeld (2-0), five new players entered the starting line-up. Therefore, BVB initially needed a few minutes to find the right coordination and order. Axel Witsel, surprisingly in the back four, had to block against Noa Lang (5th) in dire need. The guests quickly got the match in the Jan Breydel Stadium under control. Hazard took advantage of a mistake by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet after a cross from Thomas Delaney to take the lead in his Belgian homeland – Favre cheered with relief: his plan worked early. The black and yellow dominated against mostly low hosts and followed suit through Haaland. After overcoming knee problems, the Norwegian hit from close range.
The “new” defense takes a little
Without Hummels (thigh injury), Emre Can (Corona) and Dan-Axel Zagadou (ankle ligament injury), there were a few gaps in the reorganized defense. Goalkeeper Roman Bürki saved strongly against Ruud Vormer (23rd). Bruges now risked more, offered space and was punished. Haaland failed at Mignolet (30th), then the 20-year-old increased with his 14th goal in the eleventh game in the premier class. Mahmoud Dahoud and Thomas Meunier had prepared well.
After the change, the guests took it easy to save energy for the Bundesliga hit on Saturday. Bruges was too harmless to capitalize on. But also from BVB there was not much more offensively, even if Favre sent his captain Marco Reus onto the field in the 72nd minute. In order not to stay longer than necessary in the corona risk area, we went back by plane that night with the certainty: The lightning trip to Bruges was successful, the Bavarians can come.
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