Bundesliga
BVB twice denied by woodwork in goalless draw with Wolves
Borussia Dortmund began the second half of their Bundesliga campaign with a high-octane goalless draw at home to VfL Wolfsburg. But despite dropping two points, BVB only slipped one place in the table and currently sit in fourth spot after 18 rounds of matches.
Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reports
Both teams took a while to find their feet in front of a crowd of 80,600 at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. Yarmolenko (22) and Isak (43) spurned the best chances of the opening 45 minutes for the Black & Yellows, while Bürki pulled off an outstanding save at the other end to prevent Didavi from firing the Wolves ahead (37). The second period continued in much the same fashion and the slightly superior hosts would have broken the deadlock had Yarmolenko not missed from close range (48) before Sancho hit the post (53). Wolfsburg had chances too – notably through Origi (58) and Steffen (65) – but were unable to convert them. As the match moved into the closing stages, BVB piled on the pressure but could not find the goal that would have sealed all three points.
The scenario:
Nine points and nine places separated third-placed BVB and 12th-placed VfL. Since losing the 2015 DFB Cup final, BVB had claimed victory in all five of their matches against Wolfsburg, with the most recent four all won by a margin of at least three goals.
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Personnel matters:
The Wolves were without Blaszczykowski, Brooks, Bruma and Camacho, while Peter Stöger had to contend with the absence of Guerreiro, Larsen, Philipp, Reus, Rode and Schmelzer. A muscle injury ruled out Pulisic, while Aubameyang was omitted from the squad at short notice for disciplinary reasons. Isak replaced the Gabon forward, while Sancho made his first start and the fit-again Piszczek and Götze returned to the starting XI.
Tactics:
Both teams took a safety-first approach with their build-up play. BVB transitioned smoothly between a 4-1-4-1 when defending and a 4-3-3 formation going forward. They attempted to draw out their opposition from Lower Saxony, who lined up in a 4-2-3-1 system with two deep-lying defensive midfielders, and then get in behind them thanks to rapid link-up play or long balls into dangerous areas.
The match & analysis:
It was clear both teams had recently returned from their winter break. There were, for example, a number of instances where coordination, movement and passing accuracy were lacking. But Borussia Dortmund were the more dominant of the two sides, consistently working their way into shooting positions and enjoying spells in which they piled the pressure on the Wolfsburg rearguard. Their best chance in the opening half-hour fell to Yarmolenko following a move involving Sancho and Piszczek, but the Ukraine winger's effort from several metres out sailed narrowly wide of the goal (22). Two minutes earlier he had almost been the provider with a cross towards the back post, but it flew agonisingly above Isak and caught Sancho off-guard before sailing out of play (20).
There was another half-chance when Yarmolenko had a shot from a centre-right position 11 metres out in the 31st minute, but it hit the side-netting. Shortly afterwards the Wolves had their first moment of danger when Malli flicked the ball towards Origi on the edge of the six-yard box, but Sokratis turned his shot on the turn behind for a corner (34). The chance seemed to spur on the visitors, whose next gilt-edge opportunity fell to Didavi in the 37th minute. However, a spectacular save with an outstretched left leg from Bürki thwarted the effort and denied the Wolves the opener. With the interval minutes away, Götze played an excellent ball in towards Isak in the box. But despite controlling the ball excellently with two touches, the young Swede was pressured by Tisserand and his effort from seven metres out crashed against the woodwork (43).
Sancho strikes outside of the post
BVB again dominated the opening stages once the second half got under way, creating two golden chances to break the deadlock. The first came from a quick counter in the 48th minute when Sancho picked out Isak, who in turn found Götze in the box, but his ball across the face of goal was fired over by Yarmolenko from close range. Five minutes later Kagawa played another ball across the VfL box which landed at the feet of Sancho, who hit the outside of the post from four metres out. Borussia largely looked solid at the back, although Origi did get in behind the defence on one occasion. Bürki quickly came off his line to close Origi down, however, saving the shot with this torso (58). Seven minutes later Wolfsburg substitute Steffen missed a chance at the back post to put the men from Lower Saxony ahead (65).
In the closing stages Steffen had another effort from long range that sailed inches over the Borussia Dortmund crossbar (76). At the other end, Schürrle almost put the Westphalians ahead with a volley (79) before Sancho had an effort from seven metres, although his shot hit Verhaegh and sailed out of play (82). The Black & Yellows really piled the pressure on their visitors in the final few minutes, although Sahin's effort from 40 metres was off-target despite an open goal to aim at after Casteels had come tearing out to make the save (86).
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Prospects:
BVB will next be in action on Friday (20:30 CET), when they travel to the capital to take on Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga.