Borussia Dortmund was not full of confidence before hosting PSG in the Champions League, to put it mildly. Very quickly reduced to ten, the BVB stumbled at home against RB Leipzig (2-3) on Saturday evening, conceding its second defeat in a row after the elimination in the German Cup in Stuttgart on Wednesday.
The Borussia defense, deprived of Mats Hummels for an illegal tackle in the position of last defender (15th), took on water in the depth. Leipzig’s offensive players took advantage of these numerous spaces, with goals from Christoph Baumgartner (54th, 1-2) and Yussuf Poulsen (1-3, 90th + 1), but could have added more to the score against. They had previously opened the scoring from a corner, after an own goal from Rami Bensebaini (32nd, 0-1).
Dortmund lost a lot of energy
Copiously dominated during part of the match, the BVB softened the score in stoppage time in both periods, by Niklas Süle (45th + 6, 1-1) and Niclas Füllkrug (90th + 3, 2-3). Dortmund could even have equalized, with several big chances for Süle (90th + 4) or Giovanni Reyna (90th + 5), without success.
Borussia gave itself the means to believe in it, but in the end, this great outburst of energy in numerical inferiority could be paid for during the match against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening. Because unlike PSG, who benefited from a full week without a match before hosting Nantes, Dortmund played in the Cup on Wednesday and faced Leipzig this weekend, a direct competitor for the top of the table. And from an accounting perspective, business is bad for BVB, now 5th, five points behind its evening opponent, fourth in the Bundesliga.
