That started badly. Borussia Dortmund’s journey through the group stage of the Champions League is like a rollercoaster ride. But after the false start in Paris, which gave rise to fears that the soccer team from the Borussia 09 ball game club would never see the place in the sun, they reached the top after the fifth of six stages. Thanks to the 3-1 win at AC Milan, Dortmund are in first place in the table and are already safely qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Tobias Rabe
Editor in charge of Sport Online.
The game at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium was a reflection of this campaign in the premier class. In the fifth minute, Milan received a hand penalty after a fatal bad pass from Julian Ryerson and a shot from Samu Chukwueze, as Nico Schlotterbeck had deflected the attempt with his elbow. There was some discussion, but the referee stuck to his decision. “I am a big enemy of a lot of hand penalties,” said Mats Hummels on Prime Video after the game, but after looking at the pictures he also admitted: “You can give it.”
There was a risk of an early low point in the Milan district, but goalkeeper Gregor Kobel saved the penalty kick taken by Olivier Giroud (6th minute). A little later, when Jamie Bynoe-Gittens was roughly fouled by Davide Calabria in the penalty area on the other side, Dortmund received a penalty. Unlike Giroud, Marco Reus sank the ball into the net (10th). And suddenly the football world looked much brighter for Borussia again. But of course there was still a dark moment waiting for BVB that evening before things got better again.
“Marco was just floored”
Bynoe-Gittens and Ramy Bensebaini outnumbered their opponents on the left side, but Chukwueze elegantly weaved his way out of trouble and equalized with a shot from a tight angle, slightly deflected by Schlotterbeck and past Kobel (37′). . Because in the second half Bynoe-Gittens (59′) – after a quick direct combination into the penalty area – and substitute Karim Adeyemi (69′) also scored with a shot from the penalty area line, everyone from Borussia was smiling in the end Tuesday evening.
This also applied to Reus and Schlotterbeck, who left the pitch earlier. According to Edin Terzic, failures are not to be expected. “Marco didn’t have any problems, he was just flat,” said the coach. “He worked incredibly hard for the team.” Schlotterbeck went into the game with a cold. Therefore, according to Terzic, it was agreed that he would not be used over the full distance. The top game in the Bundesliga awaits the still unbeaten Leverkusen team on Sunday (5.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN).
Then Bynoe-Gittens could cause a stir again. He was already noticeable against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, and the 19-year-old Englishman also showed his class on the big international stage in Milan. “He does it very well and is always dangerous for the opponent,” said Niclas Füllkrug. “We always know when he’s in a one-on-one that we don’t have to support him. We leave him there, we give him the space and then he can play to his absolute strengths. It’s worth its weight in gold to have a player like that in the team.”
