Champions League: FC Barcelona counterattacks Dortmund and wins the exchange of blows

With a 2:3 (0:0) defeat against FC Barcelona, ​​Borussia Dortmund missed the jump to second place in the 36-team Champions League table and instead fell back to ninth place in the narrow field. The second defeat in the sixth game of the season puts direct qualification for the round of 16 in jeopardy. Barcelona took the lead three times, but Serhou Guirassy was only able to equalize twice.

For BVB, after 13 Champions League home games without defeat across the seasons, it was the first since the 1: 3 on November 3, 2021 against Ajax Amsterdam. Particularly bitter: In the final minute, defender Nico Schotterbeck twisted his ankle while attempting a header and remained lying there for a long time. The Dortmunders are threatened with the next loss of a regular employee.

Coach Nuri Sahin had to do without important players anyway: central defenders Niklas Süle and Waldemar Anton were missing, as were attackers Julian Brandt and Maximilian Beier. Karim Adeyemi was at least back on the bench after two and a half months. Emre Can returned to the inside of the four-man defense chain, Sahin had two surprises up front: Instead of Pascal Groß in the attacking half position, he called the 22-year-old Giovanni Reyna into the starting line-up, and the 18-year-old played on the right wing instead of Donyell Malen Julien Duranville. Jamie Gittens on the left wing is also only 20.

When Barcelona takes the lead for the third time, BVB can no longer counter

In contrast, Barça’s offensive with Robert Lewandowski, 36, and Lamine Jamal, 17, was a multi-generational project. Yamal on the right initially couldn’t get a grip on left-back Ramy Bensebaini. The fact that it was goalless at the break was more flattering for the Westphalians than for the Catalans. Serhou Guirassy and Marcel Sabitzer, who has now been waiting eight months for a competitive goal, had chances for BVB.

Dortmund started the second half with Yan Couto replacing the injured right-back Julian Ryerson. But Couto was tied up in front due to pressure when the Spaniards counterattacked through Dani Olmo in the 53rd minute. Bensebaini wanted to provoke an offside position, but Can and Schlotterbeck could no longer hold off Raphinha as he ran away.

Dortmund’s first equalizer quickly followed. Five minutes later, Guirassy was pushed into the penalty area by Pau Cubarsí in anticipation of a Sabitzer cross and converted the penalty to make it 1-1 in the 60th minute. Now Dortmund were pushing for the winning goal, but were blown away a quarter of an hour before the end when Gregor Kobel was unable to hold on to a shot from Fermin in the 75th minute and Ferran Torres scored to make it 2-1. This provoked Guirassy to equalize again just three minutes later. After a mistake by ter Stegen representative Iñaki Peña, the Guinean scored on an assist from substitute Groß in the 78th minute to make it 2-2.

In the 85th minute, at the end of another counterattack, Ferran Torres gave Dortmund the task of equalizing for a third time with a goal that made it 3-2. But the hosts could no longer solve this.