Islam Bouafif 🇹🇳🇵🇸

1/ Lineup I was worried hearing rumours about Ferran and Frenkie possibly starting, as Dortmund away is one of the toughest fixtures, leaving no room for experimentation or rotation. So it's not anything against those players it's just not the right time to try something new.

Thankfully, the rumours were false, and Flick went with our strongest lineup, as he should. I’m happy with all the picks—his choice was perfect, so there’s not much to critique here.

2/ The First Half Dortmund began by pressing aggressively, however, we bypassed their press comfortably because their pressing structure focused on our right side, which we usually rely on. Flick smartly shifted our buildup to the left, exploiting the spaces Dortmund left there.

Guirassy marked Cubarsi, and Sabitzer pressed Inigo, but because Sabitzer is a midfielder, he often arrived late, giving Inigo more freedom and also Sabitzer pressing high left one of our midfielders without marking, usually Pedri, because he was the one leaning to the left.

So In the first 10–15 minutes, we always had numerical advantage in buildup from the left and this setup helped us create several chances and we could've got a lead if it wasn't for our poor finishing, this led for Dortmund to abandon their press, and retreat into their half.

But even then, Dortmund defensive shape was similar to when their pressed with Sabitzer joining Guirassy up front, we easily established a 3v2 numerical advantage in midfield (Casado, Pedri, Olmo vs. Reyna, Nmecha) which made central progression easy.

The problem was that we failed to capitalise on Raphinha’s runs behind their high/mid line, opting for safer passes instead. Flick's approach in this half prioritised control over directness, conserving energy but missing opportunities to exploit Dortmund's high defensive line.

Our approach was to progress centrally as i explained then get the ball wide and rely on our wide threat. Our right side remained the most dangerous, thanks to Yamal's creativity and support from Koundé. But the left side struggled due to Balde's limited output in the final third

In our pressing Flick's tactical adjustments were evident. Normally, both wingers press the center-backs, while Lewandowski and Olmo press the pivots, leaving space for the opponent’s wingers. Against Dortmund, only one winger pressed high, while Yamal stayed with his fullback.

This adjustment limited Dortmund’s buildup from wide areas, particularly on their left, where Koundé was free from high pressing roles so he effectively neutralised Gittens. However, on the right, Duranville frequently found space in 1v1s against Balde, creating a lot of danger.

At the end of the half, Dortmund began exploiting weaknesses in Flick’s pressing structure. The new system made it harder for them to build wide but easier to progress centrally, as Lewy’s less intense pressing on the CBs compared to how Yamal presses in the usual system.

Also occasionally, the press from Pedri or Casado came late especially when their midfielders drop deep it's hard for our pivots to follow them, and this gave their midfielders more freedom and eased their buildup so they were able to create some danger.

Overall, we controlled the half well, and with better finishing, we could have gone into halftime ahead. But you can't expect Dortmund to give you full control in their stadium for the whole game, and the fact that we missed our half shouldn't happen again in big games.

3/ The Second Half Dortmund continued their central buildup, as seen at the end of the first half, effectively bypassing our press. With Lewy and Rapha showing signs of fatigue, our counter-pressing intensity dropped, allowing them to attack and keep possession more comfortably.

On our side, buildup became a struggle as Dortmund shifted their pressing focus to our left side, nullifying the numerical advantage we created earlier. While Guirassy continued marking Cubarsí, forcing us to build from the left, where Dortmund had compacted their press.

With no numerical superiority, we relied heavily on the individual brilliance of Pedri to escape tight spaces and deliver a precise long ball or just advance the ball to Olmo like what happened in our first goal, but such moments are rare and unsustainable throughout the game.

That's why we struggled in consistently beating their press, but when we did, their high press left large spaces in behind so attacking opportunities became easier to exploit, leading to more dangerous chances compared the first half with also better finishing from our attackers.

And that's the reason we were able to score 3 goals and create more danger in general in the second half, despite having much less control. Also their focus on pressing our left side gave Yamal and Koundé more freedom on the right, which contributed to our second goal.

Defensively, we struggled, particularly with crosses. Flick’s reliance on the offside trap as the primary strategy for defending crosses proved risky and ineffective. This approach led to Dortmund’s penalty and most of their dangerous moments.

Opponents are increasingly prepared for our offside trap especially with midfielders runs. The offside trap should primarily target attackers while for midfielders making late runs, defenders need to mark them instead of trying to trap them like in what happened in their 2nd goal

5/Subs Flick’s substitutions of Ferran and Fermin added fresh legs, which added more intensity to our pressing, but Dortmund were still able to bypass it, because the problem was more in the structure rather than the intensity.

But most importantly this subs added pace that improved our ability to counterattack and exploit Dortmund’s defensive gaps especially Ferran who was able to score two goals from the two chances he got.

For the sub of Frenkie, i think Flick wanted to keep pedri deep on the left while adding another controller who can support the buildup from the right, but things didn't work as expected, and FDJ wasn't able to add much in that role, i think Gavi would've been a better fit.

4/ Conclusion Offensively, I’m reasonably satisfied with the team’s performance. In both halves, we attacked well and created numerous dangerous opportunities, even when control slipped away in the second half. However, defensively, there’s significant room for improvement.

Teams are now clearly aware of our offside trap strategy and are exploiting it effectively. This means we need to execute it more precisely or, better yet, develop a nuanced understanding of when to rely on it and when to opt for alternative defensive solutions.

The offside trap cannot remain our singular answer to every defensive challenge. Balancing our defensive strategy with adaptability will be key to handling well-prepared opponents in the future.

At the end of the day we got a crucial 3 points in a very tough stadium and we jumped to the second place in the Champions league standing so i can only be happy with this game despite defensive problems.

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