Borussia Dortmund were beaten 2-1 at Hertha Berlin on Matchday 24 of the Bundesliga campaign. The result sees the capital club move to within three points of the Black and Yellows, who remain in third-place following Hoffenheim's failure to pick up all three points in Freiburg.

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reporting

The 74,667 spectators at the Olympiastadion in Berlin witnessed a fast-paced encounter with an attacking emphasis from both sides. Kalou fired the hosts into a relatively early lead (11) but missed several chances to double the advantage, while at the other end BVB spurned a number of opportunities before finally equalising through Aubameyang after the break (55). They had the hosts on the ropes in the quarter of an hour that followed, but it was Hertha who went ahead thanks to a direct free-kick from Plattenhardt (71), and despite their best efforts the visitors were unable to restore parity for the second time.

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The scenario:
Third-placed BVB travelled to the capital on the back of four consecutive wins and qualification for the Champions League last eight, while the hosts had won on only one of their last four outings but boasted a formidable home record. The last meeting between the teams came in the DFB Cup four weeks ago, when BVB won 4-3 on penalties.

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Schmelzer wore the captain's armband in the capital.

Personnel matters:
Thomas Tuchel, who was without Reus (fibre tear), Götze (metabolic disorder), Bender (fitness), Sokratis (muscular problems) and Rode (groin operation), made four changes to the starting XI that beat Benfica in midweek, bringing in Ginter, Kagawa, Guerrreiro and Schürrle in place of Piszczek, Pulisic, Dembélé and Sokratis. Hertha, meanwhile, were without Baumjohann (tonsillitis), Lustenberger (groin), Schieber, Baak, Maier (all knee), Kurt (ankle), Torunarigha and Esswein (both ill).

Tactics:
While Hertha opted for the same 4-2-3-1 formation they had employed in the Bundesliga and DFB Cup meetings between the sides earlier this season, Borussia Dortmund took to the field in a 3-4-3 system. Bartra moved from the left to the right of the back three, while Ginter occupied the central position in the absence of the injured Sokratis and Schmelzer took up the position on the left. Durm (right) and Guerreiro (left) dropped back to expand the back three into a back five when BVB were without the ball, but in possession they played slightly ahead of defensive midfielders Weigl and Castro. Up top Aubameyang and Schürrle were on the right and left respectively, while Kagawa drifted between central midfield and centre-forward positions – a similar role to the one he played last season when BVB travelled to Bayern in the Bundesliga.

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Aubameyang bursts forward at pace.

The match & analysis:
BVB made a bright start to the match with half-chances falling to Schürrle in the second minute and Ginter two minutes later, but they would have conceded on the six-minute mark if Haraguchi had opted to pass to the better-positioned Ibisevic rather than going for goal himself (6). It was end to end in the ensuing minutes, with both teams launching fast-paced attacks and offering the crowd a spectacle brimming with offensive action. After 11 minutes Hertha went ahead through Kalou, who was left with a simple tap-in at the back post after Ibisevic had easily won possession in midfield before racing into the box and picking out the Ivorian. A short while later Bürki made a spectacular save to deny a long-range effort from Kalou (15), who would have doubled the advantage from the ensuing corner if Guerreiro had not been on hand to clear the ball off the line.

BVB keep up the fight...

At the other end Durm was brilliantly picked out in the box by a clipped Castro pass but his volley back across to Aubameyang was unfortunately too far behind the Gabon international (27). Only three minutes later the pair were at the centre of the action once again after Kagawa had brilliantly outmanoeuvred five opponents, but again Durm failed to find Aubameyang (30). BVB's strategy of getting in behind Hertha was working; it was just the final ball that was lacking. The best chance came following a corner in the 40th minute, when first Aubameyang and then Schürrle found themselves in shooting positions in the box but were forced away from goal, and when Ginter chipped it back into the six-yard box Bartra headed millimetres over. Then, in the 43rd minute, Jarstein palmed away a Schürrle cross that was heading towards Kagawa, before Kalou came within inches of heading home a cross that would have put the hosts two goals ahead at the break.

...and restore parity through Aubameyang

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Kagawa put in a good performance.

The match was no less frenetic after the restart, with Aubameyang narrowly missing the target – and the equaliser – following another assist from Durm in the 46th minute. Bartra put Jarstein to the test with a bobbling effort three minutes later, before Skjelbred fired narrowly wide of goal (50) and Schmelzer thwarted Haraguchi with the Japan international looking certain to score (54). One minute later the Black and Yellows finally broke Hertha's stubborn resistance with an outstanding finish from Aubameyang, who fired into the top corner from six metres out to round off an excellent move involving Guerreiro and Kagawa (55).

Thomas Tuchel's team, however, had no intention of settling for a point and put the Berliners under enormous pressure with their high-tempo game. Castro was denied by Jarstein in a one-on-one (58), then a Hertha player managed to block his volleyed effort from 16 metres out (65). Four minutes later the midfielder raced forward again and the ball broke to Aubameyang, who fired well wide of the mark (69). In the midst of this BVB pressure the hosts were awarded a free-kick in a central position on the edge of the area 17 metres out. Plattenhardt stepped up and thundered an unstoppable effort into the top-right corner to shock the visitors (71). Thomas Tuchel introduced Dembélé and Pulisic in the closing stages and Borussia appeared to recover quickly from the shock of falling behind again, but Hertha had everyone camped in and around their box until the final whistle and restricted the Black and Yellows to a long-range effort from Schürrle (83) and a Bartra effort that was blocked by Brooks (87).

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Prospects:
The congested fixture list continues on Tuesday (kick-off 18:30 CET) when BVB travel to Osnabrück to face Sportfreunde Lotte in the DFB Cup quarter-final. Three days later (Fr., 17/3, 20:30 CET) they play host to FC Ingolstadt in the Bundesliga.

Teams & goals