Clinical Dortmund claim top spot in the group

BVB surged into a 3-0 lead inside 31 minutes courtesy of goals from Thorgan Hazard (14) and a brace from Erling Haaland (18, 32), who notched his 13th and 14th Champions League goals in 11 appearances in the competition. At the other end, meanwhile, Bürki was on hand to deal with three dangerous situations. Having lost their opening game in Rome a fortnight ago, Borussia now top the group with six points – ahead of Lazio (five) and Brugge (four).

The scenario: 
Borussia Dortmund and FC Brugge were facing each other for the fourth time in European competition. Ahead of this latest meeting, their away record against the Belgians read one win and two defeats. The Jupiler League champions kicked off their group campaign with a 2-1 win in St. Petersburg and a 1-1 draw against Lazio. After losing 3-1 in Rome, Borussia beat Zenit 2-0.

Personnel matters: 
BVB made five changes in view of the current fixture congestion, with Witsel, Dahoud, Reyna, Guerreiro and Haaland returning to the starting XI for Hummels (injured), Passlack, Bellingham, Sancho and Reus (all substitutes). In addition to Hummels, Can (Covid-19), Schmelzer (rehab following knee operation) and Zagadou (fitness training) were unavailable. Hitz was out with back problems too.

Tactics:  
Despite the injury-enforced loss of Hummels and the absences of other central defensive options Zagadou and Can, Favre stuck with a back four and moved Witsel into the heart of defence alongside Akanji. Dahoud partnered Delaney in central defensive midfield in Dortmund's 4-2-3-1 formation, with Haaland once again operating as the lone frontman. The attacking midfield trio were highly flexible in terms of their positional play when the visitors had the ball. Brugge, meanwhile, lined up with a 4-3-3 system.

The match & analysis:
Borussia had a few heart-in-mouth moments at the back in the opening 30 minutes, but Akanji mostly cut an imposing figure and dealt with several errors. There were two or three moments of danger, however. Hazard blocked a shot from Lang while laying on the ground inside the six-yard box in the fifth minute, while Bürki did well to keep out Vormer's strike from 14 metres after 20 minutes. BVB ultimately emerged unscathed from those early scares thanks to a mixture of luck and skill, however.

Offensively, Dortmund's play was a feast for the eyes. Brugge were forced into giving the ball away via counter-pressing, with one such occasion coming in the 14th minute. Delaney's cross into the box from the left flank was pushed into the danger zone by home goalkeeper Mignolet and although Meunier couldn't get a foot behind the ball, Hazard was on hand to beat his international team-mate with a shot from inside the box.

Only four minutes later, Haaland dispossessed Brugge centre-back Kossounou on the left flank and carried the ball along the byline into the box – only to have his effort from a tight angle blocked by Mignolet's foot and turned behind for a corner. Reyna crossed the ball in from the left and Witsel headed it back across the face of goal towards Haaland, who initially had his header saved by the goalkeeper but managed to poke home the follow-up.

The third goal was executed to perfection. Dahoud threaded a "world-class" pass through a gap in the defence to Meunier, who timed his ball across the face of goal perfectly to tee up Haaland for a simple tap-in from close range (32). Borussia went in at the break 3-0 up, albeit with only a narrow lead in terms of shots (7-6).

BVB initially kept up their attacking momentum in the second period and largely had the game under control. Yet the first goalscoring opportunities after the interval fell to Brugge, with Bürki first thwarting Dennis in the 55th minute before keeping out Vormer 10 minutes later. Favre brought on two fresh pairs of legs with 20 minutes to go – Reus and Bellingham – before bringing on Passlack, Reinier and Morey in the closing stages of a game that Borussia continued to control and ultimately wrapped up comfortably.

Outlook: 
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund face a top-of-the-table clash against league leaders FC Bayern Munich on Saturday (18:30 CET). That will be followed by a break – albeit only for the non-internationals in the squad. The players called up will each play up to three fixtures while with their countries. The league, cup and Champions League action will then resume on 21 November, with English weeks to follow all the way through to 23 December.

Boris Rupert

Teams & goals