Borussia Dortmund have failed to progress. They were only able to manage a 0-0 draw in the round-of-16 return leg of the UEFA Europa League away at FC Salzburg. BVB had lost the first leg 1-2.

Boris Rupert reporting from Salzburg

In front of 29,520 spectators in a Salzburg stadium sold-out for the first time, Bürki maintained BVB's clean sheet with a number of saves during the first half. Only from the 70' minute on did BVB create good chances for Isak (70'/73') and Philipp (72'). They came to life much too late in order to prevent their elimination from the tournament.

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Dan-Axel Zagadou battled frequently with Hee-Chan Hwang.

How Things Stood: 

Borussia Dortmund needed to win the match either 2-0 or having scored at least three goals in order to overturn the result from the first leg of the tie, and in doing so, to inflict the Austrian champions' first European defeat on them after the six wins and two draws they had achieved at home beforehand.

Personnel Matters:  

Pulisic (flu-like symptoms) and Toprak (muscular problem) were ruled out shortly before the match was due to begin, meaning Zagadou was handed his first start since October 2017 (in Hanover). Furthermore, Kagawa and Yarmolenko were absent, as was Akanji, being ineligible to play international fixtures, while the long-term injured Durm and Rode were again unavailable for selection. There were two changes to the side that had played in the first leg: Zagadou and Piszczek replaced Toprak and Weigl. Salzburg started with the same eleven that played a week ago.

Tactics:

Zagadou and Sokratis formed the Black and Yellows' centre back pairing for the game, with the team lining up in its typical 4-2-3-1 formation and the attack set up as it had been for the convincing 1-1 draw away at Leipzig in the league 12 days ago. Salzburg turned out a tad more defensively than they had done for the first leg, with Samassekou placed centrally in front of the backline as part of a 4-1-3-2. However, they pressed intensively and sought to play quickly on the break once again, with their fullbacks pushing high up the pitch, especially Lainer on the right hand side.

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Roman Bürki thwarted a number of the opposition's big chances.

The Match & Analysis:

It was an intensive game from the moment the whistle was blown, with many challenges in midfield and plenty of pressure on whomever was currently in possession of the ball. Salzburg were on top overall at this stage, forcing two errors during build-up play that then led to good chances for them: Hwang found himself unmarked in front of Bürki on two occasions, but the goalkeeper was able to save both his shots from a half-right position in fantastic fashion (6'/21').

Dortmund were determined to take charge of the match, but hardly managed to play their way through once against a host defending resolutely, and so got no shots on goal off. Instead, Bürki was called into action for a third time in order to deny them a goal, directing Schlager's shot from around 12 metres out onto the post (32').

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It was a hard-fought game with many tackles in midfield.

Borussia needed to up their game for the second half in order to avoid their impending elimination. They certainly had more of the ball in the second half (58%), but only one shot on goal (Batshuayi, 44'), while Salzburg had four.

Reus and Götze stayed in the changing room. Philipp, who was put into attack on the right hand side, and Isak, playing as a deep-lying forward positioned centrally behind Batshuayi, were substituted on for the beginning of the second passage of play. Nonetheless, there was too little combination play, as before, while at the same time too many long balls were played forward. Their robust opponent was not going to be undone in this way.

Schmelzer's shot on the volley after a Piszczek cross had been cleared and a headed effort from the captain comprised BVB's first chances on goal in the 56' and 64' minute respectively. BVB now had to be increasingly wary of potential counterattacks. The sand was falling through the glass. Stöger opted to make his final change, and brought on Guerreiro for Castro. Schürrle moved inside.

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BVB had their first clear chance after 69 minutes played: Batshuayi fed the ball through to Isak who was denied by Walke from a half-left position. Philipp's shot was sent out for a corner (72'). He tried his luck again from distance seconds later, yet Walke was to save strongly, and did so again against Isak (73'). After this short salvo, the guns fell silent.

Outlook: 
BVB are due to play one more time before the international break. They have a Bundesliga match on Sunday with an unusual kick-off time of 13:30 CET. Their opponent at the Signal Iduna Park is Hannover 96.

Teams & Goals