BVB have experienced a bit of a dip in form in the Bundesliga in recent weeks, losing 2-0 in Leverkusen and drawing 1-1 against Hertha BSC. But with league leaders FC Bayern drawing 1-1 against Cologne and 2-2 in Frankfurt, there has been no significant change to the league table. The Black and Yellows trail the Bavarians by just four points.

BVB coach Thomas Tuchel's prediction for Friday evening's home clash with Hertha BSC was spot on. "I'm expecting Hertha to be compact and to show great tactical discipline. It is incredibly difficult to create chances against this team," the 43-year-old had said in the run-up to the match.

Weigl: "A bit too chaotic"

In the opening 45 minutes a BVB side with an average age of 22.9 years – their third-youngest of all time – looked laborious and had only had two shots on goal. "It looked dogged. We got very few balls in behind their last line of defence," analysed Matthias Ginter, who at just 22 years of age had marshalled the defence. "At the start we were sometimes a bit too chaotic," concluded Julian Weigl.

For Thomas Tuchel the first-half performance against Hertha BSC was only logical, as he explained: "This was the first time my team has ever lined up together like this, the players we had out there were extremely young and inexperienced – and in a number of positions too."

In the second half, though, BVB went up a gear or two, Stocker's 51st-minute opener serving as a wake-up call. The balls played into the path of the club's offensive players started to reach their targets, the tempo increased and there were seven times as many shots.

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Aubameyang celebrates the equaliser.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came close to restoring parity in the 67th minute but a combination of Hertha shot-stopper Rune Jarstein and the upright denied the Gabon international, whose penalty miss in the 75th minute was just his second failure from the spot in eight attempts in the Bundesliga. But "Auba" scored eventually, latching onto Dembelé's pass to level the scores at 1-1 with BVB's 13th shot of the game (80).

Not a single Black and Yellow appeared satisfied with the draw, though: "Really, a point is not enough. We could have won the game with a bit of luck," said Matthias Ginter, who spoke about the morale in the Black and Yellow camp and lauded the players for never giving up or letting their heads drop, even after the dismissal of Emre Mor in the 84th minute – a foul that even opponent Sebastian Langkamp felt was not worthy of a red card. "We put in a very intensive performance, played with emotion and threw everything at it. It has been great fun to coach this team. It's how we imagined it would be," explained Thomas Tuchel, who nevertheless had another injury to contend with after the game.

Marcel Schmelzer, who made way for Joo-Ho Park in the 71st minute against Hertha, tore adductor muscle fibres. "Schmelle" will be unavailable for the next fortnight and will join the growing list of Dortmund players on the treatment table. Castro, Guerreiro (both fibre tears), Sokratis (strain), Schürrle (medial collateral ligament), Bender (bone marrow oedema), Reus, Subotic (both in fitness training) und Durm (knee operation) are unlikely to play any part. Piszczek and Ramos were missing against Hertha BSC but did complete the entire training session on Friday.

Club without Merino and Park in Lisbon

Not until Sunday afternoon, when the players take off for the Portuguese capital, will there be any indication of who might feature in the starting XI for Tuesday's UEFA Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon (kick-off 20:45 CET). One player who definitely won't be on board is Mikel Merino. The Spaniard, who made a decent Bundesliga debut against Hertha on Friday, was not included in the club's squad for Europe's elite club competition and is therefore not eligible to play. Each club is allowed a maximum of 25 players in their squad. Joo-Ho Park will not be involved for the same reason. (fu)