In their 1-0 first-leg win over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Borussia Dortmund showed that they are a contender to be reckoned with. In order to climb in the Champions League, Dortmund did not rely on the continuous "favor" of the god of luck, but constantly "changed the formation" under the guidance of head coach Terzic. The actions of this team in yellow and black jerseys are enough to dazzle and overwhelm opponents.
Concrete defense
In the group stage of this season's UEFA Champions League, Borussia Dortmund surprised PSG by using a 5-3-2 formation to deal with the 4-2-4 system of the big Parisians playing at home. Terzic's away tactics have indeed surprised many, as in 43 games in the 2023/24 season, he has only once deployed three players at centre-back.
It happened precisely in the match against the French giants. Although at some moments the opposition switched to a 3-2-5 formation, Dortmund largely managed to defuse much of the pressure created by PSG.
They defended so well with numerical superiority that they didn't create any really threatening shots on goal in the first leg, despite PSG having 78 per cent of possession. Being pushed too hard, many of PSG's attacking players had to wave their teammates to stop passing to them, knowing they wouldn't be too comfortable receiving the ball.
Fight back quickly
According to statistics, in the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League, Borussia Dortmund averaged 58% possession per game. That figure dropped to just 40 per cent in England's 1-0 win over Newcastle. As a free-spirited and attacking team, Newcastle did not hesitate to push most of their forces into the opposition's half, cheered on by the home crowd.
However, Dortmund did not back down in the face of the Magpies' powerful attack. They defended resolutely and were always ready to organize counter-attacks when the opportunity came. In those moments, Borussia Dortmund's two wingers run at breakneck pace to attract and distract Newcastle's defenders. At the same time, one of their team-mates immediately took advantage of the central position and was ready to finish the shot.
As arranged in training
This strategy of Dortmund had an unexpected effect. Their two best chances of the game went according to the same script, with one of them leading to the only goal of the game. Nmecha scored after Slotbeck's cross from the left flank broke the door for Newcastle. Prior to that, Mullen had made the home side's goal woe-wrching with a similar move, only it was Sabitzer who passed the ball in from the left flank instead of Slotbeck.
Make surprises with left-wing "drills".
In the final group stage of this season's UEFA Champions League, Borussia Dortmund faced no small challenge at home in Milan. However, they still managed to win 3-1 against the red-and-black striped side thanks to the bold plans of the Terzic manager. On that day, the Borussia Dortmund captain used 19-year-old England winger Jamie Baino-Gittens, who had never played before, for the first time in the Champions League.
The emergence of the 19-year-old's new elements has put Milan's right-back Davide Calabria in a difficult position. Despite their best efforts, Calabria were unable to prevent Baino Gittens from scoring.
Byno Gittens and Mullen appeared on the left flank at the same time
By trusting Baino Gittens, Terzic has advocated from the outset to concentrate on attacking the position occupied by Calabria. In many cases, Mullen, who usually plays on the right wing, has also moved to the left wing in favor of Baino Gittens. To see more clearly the imbalance in Dortmund's attack, we should note that at the San Siro Stadium, 52% of Dortmund's attacks took place on the left flank. And in the remaining five matches of the 2023/24 Champions League group stage, the German team spent an average of only 36% of their time attacking on the left flank.
Ready to strengthen the midfield and forward line
When Borussia Dortmund visited Atletico Madrid on 11 April, their defender Ian Martens made a mistake that created De Paul's opening goal for his home side. However, this was because Martens clumsily passed the ball to his opponent without many teammates surrounding him.
The reason is that from the very beginning, Dortmund advocated playing with a high squad to overwhelm the opposition's half-time. This style of play puts players like Martens at risk, but Dortmund, in turn, keep a fair amount of pressure on the Atletico Madrid defence.
Borussia Dortmund pushed the lineup high in the match against Atletico Madrid
In response to the Spanish capital's 5-3-2 system, Borussia Dortmund adopted a 3-2-5 formation and at least achieved their goal of scoring away from home. Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the semi-finals was not a disaster as they won 4-2 in the second leg to become PSG's opponents in the semi-finals.
Attack from multiple directions
One of the keys to Dortmund's reach for the 2023/24 Champions League semi-finals is their ability to threaten opponents from multiple positions. Proof of this is that as many as 16 players have left their names on the scoring charts since the start of the season. Specifically, the players who scored for Borussia Dortmund include Niklas Phil Kruger, Doniyère Mullen, Julian Brandt, Youssef Moukoko, Marco Royce, Julian Lillson, Marcel Sabitzer, Karim Adeyemi, Mats Hummels, Emre Can, Jaden Sancho, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jamie Baino-Gittens, Ian Martens, Felix Nmecha and Niklas Jule.