Borussia Dortmund put themselves in an excellent position to qualify for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League by recording a 2-1 (2-0) away victory over Sporting Lisbon on Matchday 3. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Julian Weigl got the goals in a hard-fought encounter.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Shinji Kagawa

Boris Rupert reporting

Borussia were initially able to forget their injury woes as their extremely young side – average age of just over 23 – put in a cool and clever performance for the first 65 minutes. Aubameyang put the Black and Yellows ahead with a lovely goal in the ninth minute, before Weigl doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time. A 67th-minute goal that shouldn't have stood brought Sporting back into the game, before Bartra and Ginter were substituted off with injuries.

The scenario: 
Having won three and drawn one of their previous four competitive games, Sporting were in confident mood ahead of their clash with the team in third in the Bundesliga and top of their UEFA Champions League group. The match was regarded as an early indicator of who might reach the last 16 of the competition, though there is still a return fixture to come (this will take place in Dortmund on 2 November). Sporting did not boast the best record against German opposition, having won just two of their 12 home matches (five draws and five defeats). Borussia, on the other hand, had won six of their first nine away European fixtures under Thomas Tuchel.

Personnel matters: 
Sokratis and Bartra were available again after recovering from adductor injuries and formed the central defensive partnership. Ginter shifted across to right full-back, while Passlack moved from the right over to the left to replace the injured Schmelzer. It was a role the 18-year-old had already played in one or two pre-season friendlies. Right full-back Piszczek was available for selection again after overcoming an injury problem but was named alongside Mor, Rode, Sahin, Burnic and – in the absence of outfield options – two goalkeepers (Weidenfeller and Bonmann) on the bench. In total, BVB were without nine injury absentees (Schürrle, Reus, Schmelzer, Guerreiro, Castro, Bender, Ramos, Subotic and Durm) and two players not eligible to feature in the UEFA Champions League (Merino und Park).

Tactics: 
From the outset BVB had difficulties building up the play, with Sporting pressing early and generally defending high up. That gave the Black and Yellows – lining up in a 4-3-3 formation with Pulisic and Dembélé on the wings as well as Götze and Kagawa on each side of the midfield – a lot of space in which to launch quick counter-attacks. Lisbon lined up in an extremely offensive 4-1-3-2 formation with two strikers and two attacking wingers in midfield.

The match & analysis:
Borussia cleverly contrived to torpedo the Portuguese outfit's plans and gave themselves an advantage by switching the play intelligently. In the opening stages Aubameyang, who also often drifted out to the right flank, was the key figure and the scorer of the Black and Yellows' early opener. Götze won an important tackle in the centre with Sporting still high up the pitch and played the ball perfectly to the right wing. Aubameyang outpaced centre-back Ruben Semedo and kept his composure in front of goal. And unlike Hertha custodian Jarstein, who had successfully palmed an Aubameyang lob onto the upright on Friday, Sporting shot-stopper Rui Patricio couldn't get a hand to the ball (9).

Aubameyang versus Rui Patricio again

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Julian Weigl made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time.

Nine minutes later the visitors almost added a second, but Rui Patricio bravely saved Aubameyang's header and the linesman correctly raised the flag for offside following Passlack's cross. It was yet another example of the good and well-thought out football that an all-yellow Borussia, delivering a mature and clever performance despite all their injuries and the resulting changes, produced to prevent the strong-at-home Portuguese outfit (previously five wins from five matches in all competitions) from getting back into the game.

At least, not until the visitors let a careless mistake creep into their play. In the 32nd minute Sokratis and Weigl made mistakes, then Passlack wasn't able to get the tackle in on Elias in the penalty area. However, he did manage to disrupt his shot at goal and Bürki steered the ball away for a corner with his shoulder.

The carelessness served as a wake-up call for the entire team. For the first time Ginter went on one of those marauding runs down the right flank that were so effective last season and crossed into the centre, but Rui Patricio dealt with it. Aubameyang followed it up and worked a good shooting position ten metres from goal, but Portugal's EURO shot-stopper went down lightning-quick to make a strong save (35). At the other end Coates scored following a corner kick but referee Skomina disallowed the goal for a foul by Dost on Bürki (39).

Weigl scores first goal for BVB

The match swung back and forth at this point. Aubameyang shot from 11 metres out, firing the ball narrowly past the right-hand post (40). And then came Weigl: deep in opposition territory, he collected a pass and drove forward, shooting from 19 metres to make it 2-0 (43). It was the Germany international's first-ever goal in the Black and Yellow of Dortmund.

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Total commitment: Sokratis takes on Bas Dost.

At the beginning of the second half Sporting attacked energetically, predominantly down the right wing. Passlack was involved in a lot of tackles and was booked early on but generally performed his role well.

Ball did not spin fully for Sporting's goal

A double mistake by defender Bartra and match official Skomina allowed Sporting back into the match. The referee's call (back-pass from Bartra to Bürki) was correct – an indirect free-kick in the box just ten metres from the Dortmund goal-line. But when William Carvalho touched the ball, it did not complete the full spin required before team-mate Bruno César latched onto it with a brutal strike into the back of the net to make it 2-1 (67). Barely 120 seconds later a Dost header sailed millimetres wide of Bürki's left-hand post.

To make matters worse, Bartra and Ginter both had to be substituted through injury within three minutes. The back four then switched to a line-up that it had never even practised in training sessions: Rode – Piszczek – Sokratis – Passlack.

Pulisic denied by the crossbar

At this point, referee Skomina tried to let play continue far too often. Campbell's foul on Dembélé was a yellow at least (76). And when Borussia managed to break free and attack, they were missing that little bit of luck, Pulisic striking the woodwork from 17 metres (78). Borussia did their best to see out the win. Beleaguered by cramp, Passlack had to leave the field of play (90+2). Kagawa then hit against an opponent in the penalty area with a shot (90+3), and after 96 minutes and 58 seconds the referee finally sounded the full-time whistle!

Prospects: 
Borussia Dortmund are back in Bundesliga action on Saturday (15:30 CET) with a trip away to FC Ingolstadt. After that come three home games: in the DFB Cup (Union Berlin on Wednesday 26 October), Bundesliga (Schalke 04 on Saturday 29 October) and then the return match against Sporting (Wednesday 2 November).

Teams & goals