Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Magdeburg have squared off in the DFB Cup once before. That sole meeting came a decade ago in the first round of the 2007/08 season, when the Black and Yellows claimed a 4-1 victory in Saxony-Anhalt en route to reaching their first final in 19 years.

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Sporting Director Michael Zorc was pragmatism personified as he assessed that 4-1 win in Magdeburg – a scoreline that arguably flattered Borussia Dortmund – at the start of the 2007/08 season. "We were not looking to win a prize for beautiful football, but simply to reach the next round." Coach Thomas Doll added: "We still have a lot of work to do."

The Black & Yellows took an early two-goal lead through Smolarek and Klimowicz courtesy of defensive errors, before adding a third through Petric – "at just the right time", according to Doll – against the run of play to go 3-1 up. Klimowicz grabbed another in stoppage time to make it 4-1.

There were no attempts from the BVB camp to sugarcoat the performance. "We lost our way a little bit after going 1-0 up and mostly only played long balls," said Zorc. Thomas Doll claimed responsibility for the display, citing a tactical change as the reason. To put Magdeburg's back three under additional pressure, he had switched to a 4-3-3 formation that left the Black & Yellows looking rather thin in midfield. The full-backs, who he was hoping would make up the numbers, simply couldn't close the gaps. "It was an experiment and it shall remain so," said Doll. "You could see that we feel much more comfortable with four men in midfield."

Yet it was not only the unusual system that led to unusual errors. "We made a super start but then we really allowed the opponents back in," explained Christian Wörns. "We were already thinking about half-time," said goalkeeper Marc Ziegler of Magdeburg's goal, which a Bundesliga defence should really have kept out. "We lost our order and presented Magdeburg with a gift to make it 2-1. Only once we went 3-1 up was the game over," added Sebastian Kehl. Tactically speaking, the gaps between the different ranks were too large. The back four withdrew further and further back as the match progressed, conceding swathes of space to the opposition without a fight. "We scored the goals with relative ease, were dominating the match without much effort, thought that would continue and dropped down a gear," admitted Wörns. Thomas Doll added: "We lost the ball carelessly on many occasions and let the atmosphere in the stadium get to us. Every ball came back at us like a boomerang. It was a phase of the match in which we were only reacting."

But the attackers still found the net in Magdeburg. Four times in total. "Scoring will be an additional boost to their self-confidence," said Zorc of Klimowicz, Smolarek and Petric. Substitute Buckley also injected additional momentum late on. (br)

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