UEFA Europa League
BVB with one foot in the play-offs thanks to Hofmann's away goal
Borussia Dortmund have claimed a victory in their first competitive match under new coach Thomas Tuchel after beating Wolfsberger AC 1-0 (1-0) at Signal Iduna Park to put themselves in pole position for next Thursday's return leg at Signal Iduna Park. The Black and Yellows dominated the match for the opening hour and scored the only goal of the evening through Jonas Hofmann to overcome a spirited defensive performance by their Austrian opponents.
Boris Rupert reporting from Klagenfurt
Wolfsberger AC set a new attendance record as a crowd of 30,250 spectators - including around 8,000 Black and Yellow fans - packed into a sold-out Wörthersee Stadium for this third round qualifier. The travelling support were rewarded in the 16th minute when Hofmann rounded off a BVB counter-attack to open the scoring and despite their opponents rallying late on, the visitors held on for a 1-0 win.
The scenario:
Borussia Dortmund secured their place in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round after finishing their domestic campaign in seventh, while fifth-placed Austrian outfit Wolfsberger AC qualified after beating Belarusian side FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1-0 and 2-0 in the previous round.
Personnel matters:
BVB, who travelled to Austria without the waylaid duo of Subotic and Durm, started with Bürki in goal although Thomas Tuchel was quick to point out that he has not yet decided on his first-choice shot-stopper. Bender, Castro, Ginter, Kagawa and Kampl all found themselves on the bench to start. After all, there is only room for eleven a side in the Europa League too and given that the Black and Yellows face up to 30 competitive matches and six internationals in the first half of the season, strength in depth is vital.
Tactics:
Wolfsberger AC sat back deep in their own half of the pitch and defended in a 4-3-2-1 formation. In front of the back four, the hosts operated with a five-man midfield in which Seidl (right) and Putsche (left) were positioned slightly further forward than the other three to help Silvio - the team's only striker - press the Black and Yellows. The Austrians' general approach was to get tight to their man, be aggressive and cover a lot of ground against a BVB side that started the match in dominant fashion. The visitors lined up in a 4-2-3-1 system with Gündogan and Weigl in defensive midfield and Reus forming an attacking midfield trio alongside Hofmann (right) and Mkhitaryan (left).
The match & analysis:
Borussia forced the Austrians, who defended in a consistent and focused manner, back into their own half from the off but only managed to break into their penalty area half a dozen times in the first period. Tellingly, the opening goal came from a Borussia Dortmund counter-attack after Wolfsberg made a rare foray into the visitors' half. Aubameyang, who had narrowly missed the target from a header after 72 seconds following a Hofmann cross, played a through-ball down the left flank and although Reus was in an offside position, the midfielder was not intervening with play. Instead Mkhitaryan ran onto the ball, storming into the box from the left and squaring into the centre for the onrushing Hofmann to tap into the Wolfsberg goal (16). The goal, which did not infringe upon any rules of play - Hofmann was behind the ball when Mkhitaryan played the pass - was the result of BVB winning the ball back well and launching a lightning-quick counter attack!
But falling behind did not herald a change in tactics for Wolfsberg, who reduced BVB to just two further chances in the first half. For the first, Mkhitaryan latched onto a Schmelzer pass, slipped past Berger and cut in from the left before crossing the ball slightly too far in front of Aubameyang (29). Then, in the 36th minute, Weigl played the ball to Reus who cut the ball back to Hofmann from the byline, only for his attempt to be blocked from 15 metres out.
Borussia maintained their high tempo after the break and initially kept their opponents at bay. Hofmann ran onto a long ball in the 51st minute before taking a powerful and precise shot at goal from 16 metres out which was denied by custodian Kofler. A minute later Reus got the better of the Wolfsberg shot-stopper but failed to find a team-mate with his pass. However, Wolfsberger AC started to pose a threat of their own, creating a gilt-edged chance to score minutes after Aubameyang's headed effort missed the target following Piszczek's cross (56). Seidl squared the ball to an unmarked Zündel in a centre-right position twelve metres out, only for the 27-year-old to miss the target (61).
Shortly afterwards Tuchel took advantage of the wealth of options on the bench to introduce two pairs of fresh legs in the form of Castro and Kagawa. But the tide of the match was already turning. A valiant Wolfsberg soon created two more golden chances. First Zündel played the ball back to Standfest, who was denied by Piszczek (70) before the hosts' substitute Trdina got a head to the ball from the ensuing corner, forcing Bürki into a world-class save (71). At the other end, Mkhitaryan was denied a goal after Kagawa received Reus's pass in an offside position (74).
Tuchel had warned of Wolfsberg's aerial strength and their third corner also left the Borussia bench with their hearts in their mouths. Seidl crossed in the ball to Trdina once again, forcing Bürki into a strong save once more, before Silvio's follow-up effort struck the keeper's knee (84).
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Prospects:
The return leg will take place next Thursday (6 August) at Signal Iduna Park. The kick-off is at 20:30 CET. In the meantime, BVB face the prospect of a friendly in Wuppertal against Real Betis. The match kicks off on Saturday at 15:30 CET.