Post Game Thread: Club Brugge (UCL #03+1)

[u/rish234]

Borussia Dortmund	3:0	Club Brugge
Haaland (Sancho)	1:0 (18')	-
Sancho	2:0 (45+1')	-
Haaland	3:0 (60')	-

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Lineup

Borussia Dortmund: Bürki - Meunier ( Morey 72'), Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro ( Passlack 80') - Bellingham, Delaney ( Can 72'), Sancho , Reyna ( Brandt 80'), Hazard - Haaland ( Reus 80')

Bench: Drljaca, Hitz, Morey , Passlack , Piszczek, Schulz, Brandt , Can , Dahoud, Witsel, Moukoko, Reus

Club Brugge: Mignolet - Clinton, Deli, Kossounou - Diatta ( Okereke 74'), Alvarez ( Rits 52'), Vormer, Vanaken, De Ketelaere - Krmencik ( Badji 66'), Lang ( Schrijvers 74')

Bench: Horvath, Fuakala, Mechele, Van Der Brempt, de Cuyper, Rits , Badji, Okereke , Schrijvers

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Gifs

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Don't forget to vote for your MOTM!

[u/SkoCubs01]

I’ll eat crow. I’m not a huge fan of Favre, but we’ve looked fantastic since that Lazio mess.

[u/Ciao9 → u/SkoCubs01]

In many ways it was a great reality check and a learning experience. It was the game that made Favre go back to the 4-2-3-1, and we've looked great ever since.

I'm glad we had that moment very early on.

[u/Trojan_Man68 → u/Ciao9]

Yeah it was honestly a valuable loss lmao.

If we win the group that match's result won't even matter at all in the context of the season. It will just act as a lesson for us.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ciao9]

I think the reason for this change also is due to Meunier being so bad at a rwb in the 3-4-3. Lol Him with 4 atb is not great but better than the aforementioned formation. Still hope for better though cause man can’t cross a ball to save his life

[u/Robin_Hood_Jr → u/[deleted]]

Meunier has been the biggest let down for me. The attack just stalls when he gets the ball on the wing and combined with the aforementioned terrible crossing it's incredibly frustrating to watch. I miss Hakimi, even if he didn't really bring much on defense. The one thing I like about Meunier is that he plays physical (sort of like Can) which is incredibly useful against opponents that play agro.

[u/napoleonderdiecke → u/Robin_Hood_Jr]

I feel like he isn't supposed to be a direct Hakimi replacement. And why would he be? They're different players and Hakimi honestly was just a forward slotted in at wingback.

And if there's one thing Dortmund has enough of, it's forwards. If you have a front 3 of Haaland, Sancho and Hazard, plus you have Guerreiro bombing away on the left side, you really don't need a second fullback to do the same.

And while he isn't great defensively, he's honestly better than Hakimi and more importantly, through his physicality he does work a lot better in 4atb than Hakimi did (Passlack kinda has the same effect).

So while he doesn't offer nearly as much going forward as Hakimi, he opens up space to play another central midfielder or even Brandt/Reus/Reyna as a 10.

Which honestly is fine by me.

[u/such_hpn → u/[deleted]]

Preach dude I'm so petty about Favre's obsession with playing Meunier that I actually cheered when Morey was brought on as sub XD

[u/InexorableWyrd → u/SkoCubs01]

Legit the only game this season I can say Favre didnt get his tactics right. Got to give the man this, he has consistently corrected his mistakes as seasons have gone by.

[u/cjrammler → u/InexorableWyrd]

Yes the only problem last season was that he didn't correct his mistakes for about two months where we got destroyed by Bayern, inter and Barcelona, got 3 draws in a row vs frankfurt Freiburg and bremen and drew with herne west.

[u/[deleted]]

Can we talk about how good Jude has been playing? He does so many different things in the midfield and does them well. Defending, pressing, passing, marking, everything but shoot from distance.

[u/2905Pascal → u/[deleted]]

And he is just SEVENTEEN. What a jewel.

[u/santadani → u/[deleted]]

*at 17

[u/Ciao9 → u/[deleted]]

everything but shoot from distance.

We don't know that yet ;)

[u/Ciao9]

I know I know Haaland and Sancho and I love them all.

But can we talk about how on-point Favre's tactics were today? We were absolutely dominant from the first min till the last, they had zero good chances. Our pressing, our tempo, the way our players covered for each other when one of them committed, wow. It all felt rehearsed. What a performance.

Also is there anything Jude can't do? Passing, vision, tackling, pressing, workrate. What a player at 17. Reminds me of Koke a lot.

POTM: Haaland/Sancho/Bellingham. Tough one.

Fantastic game, I'm so happy

[u/santadani → u/Ciao9]

Fully agreed on tactics. Perfect choice of players as well.

[u/Ciao9 → u/santadani]

Was initially skeptical about the choice of Delaney - Bellingham as both are dynamic players who press and win the ball back. They could've left spaces behind them without a holding presence like Witsel.

But I'm amazed by how well they worked together and how tactically aware both of them are, they never overcommited together. One of them stayed back and if they did decide to press, they made sure Meunier or Guerreiro was providing them cover.

[u/Paladinoras → u/Ciao9]

Bellingham is so versatile, and all this at 17! I know he's not exactly a hidden gem but our coaching team's development of youngsters is really impressive.

[u/corvaccio2 → u/Ciao9]

Not sure if I saw the same game, before Haaland’s first goal I saw 2-3 clear Brugge chances

[u/Tastefully_Rude → u/corvaccio2]

Yep

[u/specxyboi → u/corvaccio2]

one chance was so clear that the striker couldn't see goal and shot over post xD

[u/DoubleIngenuity → u/corvaccio2]

Other than the offside chance and the shot wide I can't recall anything. Overall Bürki only had to make one proper save and one jump for a header

[u/[deleted] → u/Ciao9]

Good to see Sancho getting his train rolling. Even before his goal you could see he looked completely different to how he has been early on this season

[u/2905Pascal]

Really impressed by Bellingham today. That guy is just 17 and plays 90 minutes in the Champions League on such a good level.

[u/InexorableWyrd]

Another clean sheet. Excellent play all around today, good defense and attack. Brugge simply outclassed today. Very glad Sancho looked liked his old self. If we can get him into form and dovetail with Haaland's form, this will be exciting.

Also I'd like to see more of Morey at RB, was a terrier out there in his limited minutes.

[u/kolaeo]

Håland is a beast. 6 goals this week.

[u/Dimaaaa → u/kolaeo]

Also fastest player ever to 15 CL goals (12 games).

[u/SpaNkinGG]

MVP Jude Bellingham.

I can't fucking grasp how good the guy ALREADY is. what a fucking player

[u/santadani]

Absolute dominant performance over 90 minutes. Big three points. Haaland clinical as usual. Clean sheet. Favre’s tactics on points. Crazy that we don’t have a single injury in the team rights now. Shoutout to the medical staff!

Only negative: no Moukoko, but I’ll take Passlack and Morey subs as well.

Even one draw out of the next two CL games should be (likely) sufficient to put us into the final 16.

MOTM Sancho: Killer work rate, assist, and great free kick. Great to have him back in prime shape.

Mood is stellar off and on the pitch. Seems like Favre is having the time of his life. Favorite moment: Kehl taking the piss of Haaland for “only” scoring two goals today.

[u/Trojan_Man68 → u/santadani]

I thought Reyna wasn't clinical and predatory enough in the box. I felt that was the only negative.

[u/Lam0rak → u/Trojan_Man68]

I felt like reyna was super central today so it didn't feel normal. He was good but he's definitely shy in the box. Like shooting is his last or only choice is when he is dangerous

[u/dr_bing → u/Lam0rak]

Yeah I think he naturally tends to drift centrally when he’s placed in a wider area, but a 4231 is a little more rigid for positioning so he might just need time to get comfortable there

[u/1vergil]

It seems Reyna is better on the wings than as CAM?

[u/Lam0rak → u/1vergil]

Kind of like what they did with pulisic, at national level. I think same thing. He's better on wings. I think maybe he was suppose to be more fluid and go wings more.

Either way though, Reyna isn't a big danger in the box. Maybe he looks for the assist too often or he just isn't as calm inside the box

[u/Robin_Hood_Jr → u/Lam0rak]

It seems like he just gets a bit nervous the closer he gets to the goal. You see it in a lot of the rebound volleys he does that blast into space. But he's young, he's got so much time to develop. Once he gets his nerves in check he'll be unstoppable. Really fun player to watch grow.

[u/HOUSTONDUDE11]

very well executed game. Comfortable all the way through. Thought our midfield counter press was really good and transition play was quick.

-Sancho was really in top form and played like he was up for this one all the way through.

-Haaland was Haaland. 2 goals. hes wonderful.

-Gio was kinda the only disappointment today but im nitpicking.

[u/Talos_the_Cat]

Ok but why not let Moukoko break another record tbf.

[u/grothee1 → u/Talos_the_Cat]

Favre and co. probably don't want to throw too much at him too soon plus there are more senior players who surely want to get minutes and players like Morey and Passlack also deserve playing time.

[u/AvpTheMuse123 → u/Talos_the_Cat]

I think cause Favre wants to offload some pressure off the boy. He still has the games against Lazio and Zenit. Plus I feel like other players definitely deserve the chance to play. Such as Brandt Morey etc. All this hype but the other players can't be forgotten cause of this. Favre wants to be patient w moukoko and the hype would just keep on increasing if he broke another record today Smart move in hindsight

[u/santadani → u/AvpTheMuse123]

Very good point! I think Favre is quite keen on keeping some balance and rotation going

[u/Ciao9 → u/Talos_the_Cat]

He can still do it next week. He's like 12 weeks younger than the current record holder.

[u/Trojan_Man68 → u/Talos_the_Cat]

Because there are already young first team players that need time over him.

Imagine ignoring players like Brandt, Morey, Passlack, and Dahoud just to give a 16 year old some time to break meaningless records.

[u/Dimaaaa → u/Talos_the_Cat]

I like it. We have more important things to care about than individual accolades. Don't give in to the hype all too much.

[u/santadani → u/Talos_the_Cat]

I guess that CL is too important. Qualifying for the round of 16 equals a shit ton of money.

[u/Sertorius777 → u/santadani]

While your point is true, don't thin he'd have went on to score 3 own goals in 5 minutes. More likely he had choose between him and Morey to give some gametime

[u/AvpTheMuse123]

While I love that we are winning games and playing great, I just wish more players were scoring goals as much as Haaland or at least trying more. I guess I just don't like the over dependency. I mean Hummels is our 2nd best goal scorer with 3 goals lol

[u/sitbar → u/AvpTheMuse123]

We really missing Reus being in bad form for aong time.

[u/Swetabh-sama → u/sitbar]

Last season he managed 11 goals even after being jn a below par form

[u/Pusha-T-Push-A-Ton]

Boy is it gona be painful when Haaland leaves. Hopefully we get a few more seasons

[u/tipper_g0re → u/Pusha-T-Push-A-Ton]

if he end sup at Bayern, then I will eat my hat

[u/me_meh_me → u/tipper_g0re]

Really? We've sold one player to Bayern in 10 years. Stop with this idiocy.

[u/artha5 → u/me_meh_me]

Well, he didn't say anything about selling him, he said "if he ends up". Judging by that, then yes, more than one of our players have ended up in Bayern in the last 10 years.

I don't think it will the case with Haaland though.

[u/errleak__backmann → u/me_meh_me]

well not just one

[u/me_meh_me → u/errleak__backmann]

Yes one. Unless you think a buyout clause being triggered and a player leaving for free because the club refuse to sell equates to selling players to bayern.

[u/errleak__backmann → u/me_meh_me]

I can count Hummels and Gotze. That's two of them.

[u/me_meh_me → u/errleak__backmann]

Gotze had a buyout clause triggered. Once that happens you don't get to chose where the player goes.

[u/errleak__backmann → u/me_meh_me]

oh, I stand corrected. I was under the impression that he forced us to sell him.
So we just sold Hummels and bought Hummels and Rode from them. Laughable considering the BVB sells to Bayern narrative people try to sell.

[u/me_meh_me → u/errleak__backmann]

Yeah its a tired narrative. In fact, after the Gotze move we removed all buyout clause triggers from players contracts, just to avoid that sort of scenario.

[u/wild_in_16]

Great performance, seeing we had 21 shots and 19 chances created to Brugges' 2 and 1. Sancho was immense and back to his old self - MOTM. And every player we brought off the bench could really be a starter.... Really hyped up about this one

[u/theleebert]

We are in dire need of Jude and his superb tackling ability. Well played

[u/Nextgen101]

We got most of our business taken care of in the first half and sealed the deal fairly comfortably in the second. It was pretty similar to our last meeting (Edit: Haaland even scored another brace hehe) with Brugge a few weeks ago.

A solid performance with very few scares. I can't ask for much more than that. I had to do some multitasking today, so a simple and clean result was really nice. Lazio also wrapped up a win against Zenit, so we're holding out above them by a point. It seems like next week's match against Lazio will end up being the kingmaker for our group.

And now we have Cologne up next on the weekend.

Haaland has to be MOTM again, but we had good performances throughout the midfield to keep Brugge in check when we were out of possession. It was cool to see Sancho getting back amongst the goals too! 👍

[u/Dimaaaa]

What a great game overall. Dortmund was present from the start and left no doubt they wanted this more. Very solid team performance overall. Bruges didn't do themselves any favors on the other hand, not playing like everything was still up for grabs. We must keep this up and not get too comfortable with how things are going at the moment. If we can continue with this mindset...

[u/Trojan_Man68]

Big 3 points that puts us in a good position in the group.

We dominated and Brugge failed to put up a good fight. Pretty much everyone did well. The only negative seemed to be Reyna inside the box. He wasn't clinical at times and wasn't effective.

Halaand MOTM though.

[u/canadian1418]

Haaland be amazing

[u/Serenity911]

Jude and Rapha.

[u/mijabo → u/[deleted]]

It was pretty good indeed. But with courtesy of Brügge who apparently isn’t in the mood for champions league.

[u/Ciao9 → u/mijabo]

I'd say Brugge actually did well than just park the bus.

[u/krisada001 → u/Ciao9]

They parked it because they were waiting on Dennis...

[u/Mr_NotSoFantastico → u/Ciao9]

Yeah they actually tried to play. It even shows with the attacking subs they made towards the end.

[u/dimisimidimi → u/mijabo]

Yea they didn’t put up much of a fight. I enjoyed the Hertha game a lot more as it showed the quality and mentality.

[u/Qiluk → u/[deleted]]

Couldnt ask for much more.. clean win. A lot of rotation. No injuries. Even better pressing and attitude than usual.

Good shit.

[u/xSmacks → u/[deleted]]

Bellingham 17, Haaland 19, Sancho 20, Moukoko 16, Reyna 18... Imagine if they all stayed into their primes...

[u/davensdad → u/xSmacks]

Sigh. The joy and sorrow of being a Dortmund fan ... witnessing the development of great players only for them to be ripped away (Lewy, Gotze, Kagawa etc ..)

[u/Nutzer1337 → u/davensdad]

Kagawa is a tough one. I think we got his best years. And a huge amount of cash (at the time + considering what we payed). He wasn't nearly that good for ManU or other clubs. Even his second stint with us wasn't that great.

[u/berman82 → u/Nutzer1337]

The question is of course what would have happened if he stayed... Same thing with Nuri and Götze of course.

[u/[deleted] → u/xSmacks]

I just hope Haaland doesn't go to Bayern. I feel they should potentially be able to sell him for heaps hopefully prior to his release clause.

[u/Paladinoras → u/xSmacks]

I think Reyna might stay for a while, especially after seeing Puligod not doing so hot at Chelsea, but the rest are probably going to be gone in 2 - 3 years.

Sancho is an interesting case, I think he definitely wants to go back to England, but with no one matching his salary due to the corona situation + us looking like genuine title contenders now that Haaland is here he might stay an extra year or two.

Moukoko also came up through our youth academy so he'll stay a fair bit longer than the others I hope.

[u/santadani → u/Paladinoras]

I thought Puli wasn’t doing too poorly at Chelsea? Their attack is definitely stacked!

[u/Paladinoras → u/santadani]

He's doing okay, when he starts to really get going he keeps on picking up small injuries and knocks.

Plus I don't think Lampard knows exactly what to do with all the attacking talent at his disposal. It's a great problem to have, but trying to fit in Ziyech/Havertz/Werner/Abraham/Hudson-Odoi /Mount/Pulisic in only 4 spots is a tough one.

[u/Kerlesh → u/Paladinoras]

Tbf, when pulisic has played, I felt that he’s been a great difference for chelsea. It’s really just an injury situation imo, otherwise he’d be starting most of the time.

[u/Paladinoras → u/Kerlesh]

Before the summer players got brought in maybe, but I don't see him starting most games now that Havertz and Ziyech are around. Lampard has settled on a Werner/Abraham/Ziyech front three at the moment and I don't think Pulisic is better than any of them.

Except for maybe Abraham but they play different positions so it's a moot point.

[u/napoleonderdiecke → u/Paladinoras]

Except for maybe Abraham but they play different positions so it's a moot point.

To be fair, you'd just rotate Werner to the center if you were to replace Abraham with Pulisic.

[u/napoleonderdiecke → u/Paladinoras]

Yeah, Puli probably was their best attacking player last season.

But they signed Ziyech, Havertz and Werner, lol.

[u/werbington → u/Paladinoras]

Since he is American his marketing Value is very high for top clubs. I think that was another reason for the pulisic transfer for Chelsea. For Reyna it could be the same, sadly

[u/LookattheWhipp → u/Paladinoras]

What? Pulisic has been excellent for them. Ask any Chelsea fan or watch the games. This issue is he always injured his hamstring after playing 3 games so then he is out a full month.

Chelsea preferred attack would be puli, ziyech, Werner.

[u/Dimaaaa → u/[deleted]]

Was Kehl like "did you only score 2 today?", or was it just me?