BVB beat Leverkusen 4-0 to claim big three points in Champions League race

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reporting

The 81,360 fans at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, which was sold out for the ninth time this season, saw a BVB side that looked keen to put their derby dishonour behind them. The players looked much more committed and threatening than last week. There was no uncertainty on show. Driven on by an at times vociferous home support, Sancho deservedly broke the deadlock with his first Bundesliga goal on 13 minutes. BVB continued to perform well in the period that followed and Reus doubled the advantage on 34 minutes, although the goal was ruled out by VAR due to Philipp being in an offside position. The BVB captain had a penalty saved by Özcan three minutes later, but it mattered little as the Black & Yellows came out all guns blazing after the break, with Reus scoring twice (55, 79) and Philipp netting once (63) to secure a deserved win.

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The scenario:
A home win would have seen fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund reclaim the third place they had lost to Bayer Leverkusen the previous weekend. Both teams had 51 points on the board but Bayer were ahead on account of their marginally better goal difference (+18/+16).

Personnel matters:
Batshuayi (ankle), Schürrle (foot), Durm (torn lateral collateral ligament), Guerreiro (torn muscle fibre), Zagadou (torn muscle bundle), Kagawa (ankle) and Rode (groin operation) were unavailable for BVB. Leverkusen, meanwhile, were without Lars Bender, goalkeeper Leno and Wendell. Peter Stöger made four changes to the team that lost the derby, reintroducing Akanji, Weigl, Götze and Sancho at the expense of Schmelzer, Sahin, Dahoud and Batshuayi.  

Tactics:
BVB lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation in which Philipp played as the lone frontman, with Pulisic and Sancho on the flanks and Reus and Götze in central midfield. Akanji replaced Schmelzer in the left-back slot. The system came off, with Reus brilliantly picking out Sancho and Pulisic time and time again, the pair often getting in behind the Bayer defence or dribbling their way through down the middle. Leverkusen opted for a 4-2-3-1 system with Alario at centre-forward and Volland directly behind him. Brandt and Bailey sought to feed the pair from the flanks.

The match & analysis:
Both teams seemed to be feeling each other out at the start but the match came to life in the eighth minute, when Leverkusen created the first opportunity. Brandt launched a lightning-quick counter with a ball into the path of Alario, who looked to pick out Volland and Bailey in the box but ultimately played a pass that was unreachable for his team-mates. Only a minute later came the first chance for BVB (Götze fired towards goal from 17 metres), who subsequently attacked briskly and caused some serious trouble for the Foals on several occasions over the following six minutes.

On the 12-minute mark, Reus picked out Sancho on the left. The young Englishman ran into space but shot too hastily as Özcan came rushing off his line and the goalkeeper was able to make a save with an outstretched leg. A minute later, though, the 18-year-old got the better of the Leverkusen custodian when he picked the ball up from Pulisic on the left of the penalty area and, with Henrich having slipped, went clean through on goal, curling the ball inside the post from 12 metres to make it 1-0 (13). Two minutes later came the next clear-cut opportunity for Borussia. This time Sancho turned provider, playing in Pulisic on the right of the six-yard box, but Henrichs made amends for his earlier error and cleared Pulisic’s shot away for a corner at the last moment (15).

BVB were more withdrawn for the 15 minutes that followed but remained compact at the back and gave Leverkusen no shooting opportunities. The game sprang back into life on 35 minutes, when Reus rounded off another counter-attack by slotting home from 16 metres to double the lead. But video assistant Günter Perl in Cologne intervened and the goal was disallowed due to Philipp being in an offside position directly before Reus’ shot. There was another incident of note a matter of minutes later, when Pulisic drove into the penalty area from the right and was felled by Retsos (37). Referee Schmidt immediately pointed to the spot but Özcan managed to save from Reus (38). Barely a minute later Henrichs made a last-ditch intervention to deny Philipp in the six-yard box (39). As a result, Leverkusen came through this second spell of intense pressure by the Westphalians to reach the break only one goal behind, but they did lose Tah to injury on the stroke of half-time.    

BVB up the ante after the break

Leverkusen’s deficit forced them onto the offensive after the interval, which naturally opened up space for BVB to cause further danger going forward. Havertz fired narrowly over the frame of the goal from distance (54) after Aranguiz had cleared off the line from Götze (51) and Reus had struck the woodwork with a long-range effort (52). Though the visitors repeatedly sought to get forward, the Black & Yellows continued to look the more dangerous side and finally scored a long overdue second goal in the 55^th minute. Pulisic played the ball to Götze on the edge of the box. He played it perfectly into the path of Reus, who rounded Özcan despite his reluctance to commit and tapped the ball over the line from the corner of the six-yard box.

But BVB were not done yet. Akanji shot straight into the arms of Özcan (58), before Retsos made a last-gasp clearance to deny Philipp (60). But the former Freiburg man got on the scoresheet only three minutes later. Akanji played the ball into the path of Sancho on the left, the youngster controlling it superbly at full speed and picking out Philipp in the middle for a simple finish (63). But even then, the visitors from the Rhineland kept going, giving everything in a bid to at least grab a consolation goal. Bürki made a strong save to deny Henrichs (73). BVB continued to exploit the gaps in the Leverkusen rearguard, extending their lead to 4-0 on the 79-minute mark. Another long ball out to the left found Sancho, whose chip towards the back post was headed back across the face of goal and past Özcan by Reus. The captain could have even made it five in the 83^rd minute, but his shot was blocked by the defence. Sancho also had another chance but curled it over (86).

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Outlook:
Three games are remaining this season. The next is a week tomorrow (Sunday 29 April, 18:00 CET), when BVB travel away to SV Werder Bremen.

Teams & goals