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Match Report

1-1 – Borussia lose a man and lose control, but still come away with a point

Borussia Dortmund managed at least one point in the last away match of 2025 despite being a man down, and are now level on points with the second placed team in the table. On Matchday 14 of the Bundesliga, BVB came away with a 1-1 (1-0) draw away at SC Freiburg.

In an intense, exciting encounter, BVB deservedly took the lead after half an hour through Ramy Bensebaini after Carney Chukwuemeka had hit the post ten minutes earlier. But the Baden-based side, who primarily looked to hit their guests on the counterattack, created chances in the first half – and they found themselves with a numerical advantage in just the 53rd minute because Jobe Bellingham was given a red card. 

The scenario:  
Over the past six matchdays, only Bayern Munich (16) had collected more points than Borussia Dortmund (14), while Freiburg had picked up eleven of their 16 points this season in their own stadium. BVB had won the last seven meetings between the sides..

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Personnel matters:  
For the first time this season, the team was missing four players: Aaron Anselmino, Waldemar Anton, Julian Brandt and Marcel Sabitzer were all unavailable. Maximilian Beier returned to the bench. Emre Can, Julian Ryerson, Carney Chukwuemeka and Serhou Guirassy joined the team. 

Tactics:  As in the Champions League, BVB started with two strikers (Fabio Silva alongside Guirassy) and a number 10, with Chukwuemeka primarily operating from the inside-left. In the four-strong midfield line behind them, Ryerson moved to the left side. Freiburg also met Dortmund's 3-4-1-2 with a back three or back five. Both attacked high and the two sides gave each other hardly any air to breathe in the first 30 minutes. Ginter was always close to Guirassy, Jung moved out of the back line when Fabio Silva dropped deep, which the Dortmund player often did, receiving balls in the middle of the park. Borussia came forward mainly down the right wing, via the agile Couto.

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The match & analysis:
From the very first minute on, the match was played at a high intensity. After just ten minutes, Couto and Manzambi saw yellow cards for a tussle on the touchline. There were also fiery scenes on the pitch: Guirassy headed a well-timed Fabio Silva cross just past the left post in the 9th minute, and shortly afterwards, Manzambi beat Can around the left hand corner of the six yard box, but he did not get enough behind his shot, meaning that Kobel could easily stop it on 9 minutes.

Borussia Dortmund had enjoyed 66 percent of the possession in the first 20 minutes – and also carved out the first big chance. After a one-two with Guirassy, Chukwuemeka took aim from an acute angle, but his shot hit the side netting in the 21st minute. Shortly afterwards, Can earned the chance to open the scoring as a result of some high pressing, which caused Freiburg to lose the ball in their half, but his shot from 17 metres was not accurate or powerful enough on 24 minutes. After exactly half an hour, the Black & Yellows were rewarded for their courageous performance: Couto struck a free kick from the right side into the box, Bensebaini chested the ball down and prodded it over the line to make it 1-0 in the 31st minute. Even though BVB was clearly in the driver’s seat, Freiburg consistently looked dangerous on the counter, and shortly before the break, Günter had his side’s third and best chance to score an equaliser, but the hosts’ captain fired horribly wide in the 45th minute.

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Eight minutes after the restart, Jobe Bellingham saw a red card. After a risky pass from Kobel, the Englishman tried to put his body in the way 19 metres out in front of his own goal, but caught Treu, who was bursting forward at pace, and was given his marching orders by referee Zwayer for preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity. It was Bellingham’s first foul in the game. Günter fired the resulting free kick just past the left-hand post.

BVB responded to going a man down by bringing on Pascal Groß for Fabio Silva, and had hardly any extended periods of possession thereafter. The match took place almost entirely in the Dortmund half. Kobel brilliantly tipped a follow-up shot from Treu around the post in the 69th minute, and also showed strong reactions to save Suzuki’s shot, which had taken a wicked deflection off Bensebaini, in the 74th minute. But 60 seconds later, Freiburg were celebrating the equaliser Höler did well to get on the end of Günter’s cross and finished brilliantly, finding the far post. Freiburg had 11 shots to BVB’s 0 after the red card and thought they'd made it 2-1, but Matanovic’s goal did not count as he was ruled offside on 86 minutes.

Outlook:  
In the last game of 2025, Borussia Dortmund will face Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday (kick-off: 20:30 CET). They will continue in the new year on 9 January in Frankfurt. Both games can be seen live not only on Sky, but also on Sat.1 [Germany].
Boris Rupert

Teams & goals

Football Bundesliga, Matchday 14
Sunday, 14 December 2025, 15:30 CET

SC FREIBURG – BORUSSIA DORTMUND 1-1 (0-1)

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SC Freiburg: Atubolu – Kübler, Ginter, Jung – Treu, Eggestein, Osterhage, Günter – Manzambi, Suzuki – Höler
Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Can (Süle, 90+2), Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini – Couto (Adeyemi, 90+2), Bellingham, Nmecha, Ryerson – Chukwuemeka  (Svensson, 78) – Guirassy (Beier, 78), Fabio Silva (Groß, 56)
Bench: Müller, Makengo, Ogbus, Grifo, Höfler, Adamu, Irié, Matanovic, Scherhant – Meyer, Drewes
Goals: 0-1 Baumgartner (31, Ouédraogo), 1-1 Couto (75, Guirassy)
Corners: 6-0 (half-time: 3-0), Chances: 7-5 (3-5)
Referee: Zwayer (Berlin), Yellow cards: Manzambi, Eggestein, Kübler – Couto, Ryerson
Attendance: 34,700 (sold-out), Weather: bright, 5 degrees

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