Guerreiro at the double as BVB win the group

Boris Rupert reporting from Monaco

A much-changed Borussia Dortmund were the far superior side at the Stade Louise II and they deservedly took the lead through Raphael Guerreiro in the 15th minute. The Portugal international then sealed his second Champions League brace two minutes from time as his wife and children watched on in the stands.

The scenario: 
AS Monaco went into this game having failed to register a single win at European level since beating Borussia Dortmund 3-1 on 19 April 2017 − 13 matches ago. BVB, meanwhile, had sealed their place in the knockout stages with a 0-0 draw against Club Bruges on Matchday 5 and were battling Atlético Madrid for top spot.

Personnel matters: 
Lucien Favre was without the quintet of Reus, Delaney, Piszczek, Zagadou and Bruun Larsen, who were all carrying knocks or injury problems, while Witsel was rested and Sancho was left out for personal reasons. The head coach made nine changes to the starting XI that beat Schalke 2-1 in the Ruhr derby on Saturday, with only Hakimi and Diallo keeping their places. Hitz made his second competitive appearance for the club between the sticks, while Schmelzer made his comeback after 76 days out and Götze wore the captain's armband.

Tactics:  
Monaco took to the field in a 4-1-4-1 formation and adopted a very cautious approach for a home game, with Thierry Henry's charges predominantly focused on closing down the opposition's passing and running channels. Lucien Favre's team might have had a lot of new faces but the players slotted seamlessly into the 4-2-3-1 formation that has been in use for almost three months now. Götze continued as a "false nine", while Philipp occupied the hole behind him.

The match & analysis:
The 1,300 travelling BVB fans made most of the noise on a spring-like evening at a sparsely-filled Stade Louis II. And, having seen Götze narrowly miss the Monaco goal with an attempt in the third minute, they were rewarded for their vociferous support when Guerreiro put the visitors ahead on the 15-minute mark. The move began with Schmelzer cutting the ball back from the byline towards the penalty spot. Pulisic played the ball into the path of Philipp on the right side of the penalty area and the 24-year-old's cross perfectly teed up Guerreiro for a simple tap-in − his third goal of the current Champions League campaign − from the edge of the six-yard box. Philipp was again involved in the action a short while later with a shot from 16 metres that Tielemanns deflected behind for a corner.

A thoroughly dominant BVB side came close to doubling their advantage as the half-hour mark approached. One notable moment came in the 33rd minute when Philipp drilled a free-kick into the wall and then lofted the rebound into the path of Guerreiro. The Portugal international fired the ball across the face of goal towards Diallo and it would have been a carbon copy of the opening goal had the centre-back, who was facing his ex-club, not bundled his effort narrowly wide. Monaco only posed a threat once in the opening 45 minutes, Falcao shooting from long range (42). It said it all that goalkeeper Hitz underwent another warm-up in the break.

Monaco played with slightly more purpose after the restart and threatened within two minutes when Glik went close with a header from a corner (47). Dortmund, however, initially appeared to be lacking the concentration and energy that had been on show in the opening 35-40 minutes and Schmelzer's strike in the 63rd minute was their first opportunity of the half. It was quickly followed by a gilt-edged chance for Philipp, who fired Hakimi's cross over the frame of the goal (65). With the group's other game between Atlético and Club Bruges goalless, BVB were going through in first place as it stood.

Wolf came on in place of Dahoud with a quarter of an hour remaining, with Guerreiro dropping into defensive midfield alongside Weigl. Bruges, meanwhile, had since switched to a 4-3-3 formation. Alcácer then came off the bench and made a decisive contribution to the second goal, setting up Guerreiro to hammer home his second following excellent work from Schmelzer and Pulisic down the left flank (88).

All the goals and highlights at a click

Outlook: 
BVB are next in action when they play host to Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday evening (18:30 CET). That will be followed by another double-header next week, with the Black & Yellows set to visit Düsseldorf on Tuesday and host Gladbach on Friday (21/12).

Teams & goals