Dortmund vs. Arsenal: Klopp's Pressing Leaves Gunners Confused, Helpless

Borussia Dortmund started their UEFA Champions League group stage in fine fashion on Tuesday evening, beating Arsenal 2-0 at Signal Iduna Park.

It was the premier tie of Group D; two heavyweights going head-to-head, seemingly for the right to first place and therefore a seeded berth. But the match was so one-sided it raises doubts over this Gunners team once again, as all the progress they made against Manchester City this weekend disappeared without warning.

Let's take a tactical look at how BVB won this encounter.

Formations and XIs

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Dortmund's official shape was a 4-2-3-1, but they spent most of the evening in a loose 4-4-2 shape. Ciro Immobile was often joined up front by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan played deeper than usual. Erik Durm was at right-back.

Arsenal played another 4-3-3 with Mesut Ozil, laughably, on the left-hand side. Danny Welbeck made his Champions League debut up front for the Gunners, and Hector Bellerin came in at right-back due to a mini injury crisis.

Pressing

The entire match was decided within five minutes, when it became clear Arsenal could not handle Dortmund's pressing.

BVB's pressure game is a little inconsistent—it's not seen in every single match they play—but on Tuesday Klopp turned the dials up until they turned red. We saw the same against Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup, and the Gunners struggled just as badly.

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Dortmund quickly left their 4-2-3-1 shell to press in a 4-4-2, with Aubameyang pushing up alongside Immobile to press the centre-backs. Both tried to block the ball wide to the full-back too, and their immense pace helped them close the angles.

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The midfield line then pushed forward in proximity, and the defensive line (playing high) followed suit. The levels of pressing were superbly organised, similar distances apart and each as suffocating as the next.

You sometimes see Diego Costa turn around and motion for his Chelsea teammates to follow suit and push up behind him; never will you see Immobile have to do that in Klopp's energetic system.

Quick Attacks

The plan once the ball was recovered was simple: Feed it into the channels between centre-back and full-back, allowing the speedy forwards to latch on and drive forward.

Often, Mkhitaryan would join the attacks too due to his immense pace, temporarily setting up a sort of 4-3-3 shape as he drove on as the third option.

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Aubameyang tortured Kieran Gibbs in the channel, Immobile did the same to Bellerin and Mkhitaryan nearly always emerged as the spare man penetrating the box (Mikel Arteta, where art thou?)

If the Armenian midfielder hadn't forgotten his shooting boots—something he does a little too often in the spotlight, it must be said—the scoreline could have gotten really rather ugly by half-time.

Even Sven Bender and Sebastian Kehl (Nos. 5 & 6) pushed high—sometimes to the edge of the Arsenal box—in order to sweep up loose balls and play them back in for attacks.

The Gunners were in shock, and it had a grim knock-on effect.

Big Problems

Whether it was shell-shock, mental fatigue, physical fatigue or a mixture of all three, Arsenal ground to a halt after the second goal and failed to function.

BVB began cantering forward with the ball under no pressure or challenge at all, with even Neven Subotic deciding to embark on a 30-yard dribble that no one bothered to stop.

As brilliant, and as dominant, as Dortmund were, the issues that have threatened to take hold of the Gunners for several weeks all emerged at once, making things worse.

This is exactly the type of performance that has fans calling for a proper defensive midfielder, and why Ozil is still playing on the wing is beyond anyone, seemingly, other than Arsene Wenger himself.

Alexis Sanchez lost possession a colossal 27 times, but you get the impression he's accepted the fact that, in the side's current iteration, he's going to have to do it all himself.

Welbeck had a few chances but failed to convert. It wasn't his worst outing, but he did little to help alleviate the pressing, failing to open himself up as a traditional target man or wide outlet to store the ball.

Final Word

If this is the catalyst for a change in tact from Wenger, it's a worthwhile loss, but if not, expect more issues against the likes of Dortmund in future matches.

Ozil receiving a six from Bild in the player ratings (they go from five to one, one being the best), is tongue-in-cheek from his native paper but only to an extent; Arsenal will get absolutely nowhere with him in a wide position.

Arsenal were missing a fair few players, yes, but Dortmund won this game with ease as Ilkay Gundogan, Mats Hummels, Lukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus watched on from the stands.