Match Ratings: Late Leverkusen Goal Denies Borussia Dortmund Victory

Borussia Dortmund played the role of underdog once again this season as they hosted Bayer Leverkusen at the Westfalenstadion. A dull first half, strong last-ditch defending, and a Niclas Füllkrug goal against the run of play saw Dortmund enter the last seconds of this match with a goal advantage. Leverkusen’s Stanisic rose above Dortmund’s defense in the 97th minute and sealed a tie for the visitors.

Here are our ratings from Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen:

Starting XI

Gregor Kobel

Paul: 7

Anders: 7

Aside from a few routine saves, Kobel came up big, especially on Grimaldo’s free-kick late on and Nathan Tella’s effort in the 68th minute. Maybe a bit too daring for my taste against a good pressing side like Leverkusen, but I can’t complain when it works out.

Yash: 8

Two excellent saves, and I can’t fault him for the goal we did concede.

Julian Ryerson

Paul: 7

Anders: 7

Yash: 8

Our Norwegian machine rendered Leverkusen’s flying wing-backs non-factors.

Mats Hummels

Photo by ANP via Getty Images

Paul: 8

Anders: 7

Yash: 8

Commanding.

Nico Schlotterbeck

Paul: 7

Anders: 7

A lot of good work from Schlotti today. I love how he seemingly drove Frimpong crazy, too. Our German centerpiece is on a good trajectory at the moment.

Yash: 8

Schlotti has gone a few games without losing his concentration and making an unforced error. Looked solid today, and gets a bonus point for winding Frimpong up all game.

Ian Maatsen

Paul: 5

Anders: 5

Yash: 5

Emre Can

Paul: 4

I thought Can got caught out in possession a couple of times and was, on occasion, the weak link in the team.

Anders: 4

I think Can was lucky to escape without a card for stomping Frimpong’s leg after 30 minutes of play. He then got a yellow for complaining to the referee just before halftime.

Yash: 5

Emre was largely good, but the yellow was unnecessary, and he was fortunate not to give away a dangerous free-kick early on.

Marcel Sabitzer

Paul: 6

Anders: 6

Whenever Dortmund played through the middle, Sabitzer was involved. Against a side like Leverkusen, it’s nice to have a player like Sabi, who can almost always find a way to get out of tricky situations, be it with a quick turn or a pass.

Yash: 7

Great assist, excellent overall performance. He’s been superb since the turn of the year.

Julian Brandt

Paul: 6

Anders: 6

Yash: 6

Not quite as good as he was against Atletico in the midweek, but he seems to be steadily regaining his pre-injury form. Set up Sabi’s assist with a clever flick.

Jadon Sancho

Paul: 6

Anders: 5

I think Leverkusen did well in keeping both Sancho and JBG in check. I personally think Sancho was the better of the two, but only because he could stand on the ball, allowing his teammates to get into more favorable positions.

Yash: 3

Largely invisible today. I’d agree with Anders that he was the marginally better of the two wingers, mainly due to his ability to retain the ball in tight spaces.

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens

Paul: 5

Bynoe-Gittens struggled to get into the game, which also owed to BVB’s cautious approach.

Anders: 5

Yash: 2

I can’t fault his commitment, but his poor decision-making let us down time and time again. He also showed minimal positional discipline, unnecessarily coming inside and crowding the creative players. He didn’t hit the heights today.

Niclas Füllkrug

Photo by Federico Gambarini/picture alliance via Getty Images

Paul: 6

I planned on giving Füllkrug a five because he was pretty quiet throughout the game, but the goal was worth an extra point!

Anders: 6

Yash: 7

He gets a point for the goal but was quiet otherwise. He was handed a tough assignment because of his isolated position.

Substitutes

Marius Wolf

Paul: 6

Anders: 6

I had absolutely no issue with what Wolf showed today. He had a great last 45 minutes after being subbed in for Maatsen.

Yash: 6

Marco Reus

Paul: 6

Anders: 6

Yash: 6

Felix Finish

Paul: 6

Anders: 6

I was enjoying Nmecha. That was until that one horrible back pass that almost cost Dortmund a goal.

Yash: 6

Salih Ozcan

N/A

Julien Duranville

N/A

Overall

Paul: 7

It was a solid performance against a better side. I don’t think it was perfect, but I’m not sure BVB had much choice but to take this approach. The last-minute Leverkusen goal is frustrating, but a draw was probably the correct result.

Anders: 7

I have more good than bad to say about this game. Keeping Leverkusen to an xG of 1.01 is not something many teams have done this season. I especially liked the first 10 minutes after the break, where the team became more proactive on the offensive end. I would have liked to see more of that in the first 45 because we can play good offensive football, as seen against Atletico in the midweek. How Dortmund dropped points is frustrating, but drawing two times with this Leverkusen side this season is not too bad.

Yash: 7

To concede with practically the game’s last action is disappointing, but upon reflection, the draw is probably a fair representation of how the game went. We’ve continued this theme of showing up in games where the odds heavily favour the opposition, showing very little of the “mentality issues” that have plagued the team over the last decade. Terzic sets his team up well for these sorts of games, as, despite the apparent difference in quality between the two squads from a quality perspective, there was almost nothing to split them on the pitch. I was particularly impressed with our defensive shape and the collective spirit that saw the whole defensive unit provide excellent cover for one another. Not a bad performance at all, though, against possibly the most impressive team in Europe this season.

Your Thoughts?

Who was Dortmund’s best player in their 1-1 draw against Leverkusen? Let us know what you think below!