Wembley seems to have become a bogey ground for Borussia Dortmund. It was here that Hans Tilkowski conceded the most famous goal in football history over 50 years ago – in the 1966 World Cup final – and here that Borussia Dortmund lost the 2013 Champions League final to Bayern Munich. Incidentally, Gianluca Rocchi was also there that night...

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Italian match officials have brought Borussia Dortmund little in the way of luck on their visits to Wembley. In 2013 the Black & Yellows were left lamenting referee Nicola Rizzoli's decisions, and the trend continued last night with his countryman Gianluca Rocchi at the helm. Rocchi, who was a goal-line assistant in the all-German final four years ago, disallowed Pierre-Emerick's equaliser when he struck in the 56th minute last night to level the scores at 2-2. It was, however, the wrong call – and certainly would have been overturned if video assistant referees were deployed in UEFA Champions League matches.

BVB might also consider themselves hard done by that the match officials found fault with the colour of Roman Bürki's socks minutes before kick-off, forcing the goalkeeper to hurriedly cover them with yellow tape. The Swiss shot-stopper was beaten by Tottenham's opener with just 224 seconds on the clock.

All told, though, it would be wrong to attribute the defeat to such a trivial detail or an incorrect offside decision. That would detract from the obvious performance deficits on display. Peter Bosz hinted as much when he spoke about his side's defence at the post-match press conference. "We were too soft for their goals," he said. Not enough was done to stop Son's opener in the fourth minute, or Kane's strike 11 minutes later.

The Dutchman continued: "In the first period we were the dominant team, our general positional play was good and we controlled the match with some good football. But when you play like that, you leave a lot of space at the back and you need to defend it. On two occasions we didn't do so properly."

"Poorly organised at the crucial moments"

For both of Tottenham's goals in the first period, the positioning of the defence wasn't quite right and the visitors were cut open by two quick passes and a burst of pace from the goalscorers. "We were poorly organised at the back at the crucial moments," bemoaned Bosz. He had previously acknowledged that games like these would be part and parcel of his team's development process, saying the evening before the match: "There will be occasions when we concede two, three or maybe even four goals. But that will be an exception. They believe in this style of play and know that it works." Borussia conceded three on the night in the end, having kept clean sheets in each of their last four games in the Bundesliga and DFB Cup.

"A German side that dominated territory and possession"

The Black & Yellows will certainly take a lot from their latest visit to the English capital. Both positives and negatives. "Our performance is not reflected in the result," said Bosz. "Harry Kane's instinct in front of goal was the difference as Spurs were largely forced on the back foot by an impressive German side that dominated territory and possession," read a report on the BBC website.

No team has ever qualified for the next round after winning their opener and, by the same token, no team should ever be written off after losing it. "Now the home game against Tottenham is even more important. We need to beat them at home," declared Christian Pulisic. Peter Bosz added: "I believe that anything can still happen. That was just one match. We'll meet again soon in Dortmund."
Boris Rupert