Borussia Dortmund vs. FK Qabala: Winners and Losers from Europa League Game
Borussia Dortmund clinched a spot in the round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, thanks to a 4-0 win over Azerbaijani side FK Qabala and a 2-1 victory from FK Krasnodar against PAOK Salonika in Group C's other match.
Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel used the game for more rotation than expected, with five changes to his winning team from Sunday's Bundesliga game at Werder Bremen. Roman Weidenfeller, Lukasz Piszczek, Sven Bender, Marcel Schmelzer and Gonzalo Castro replaced Roman Burki, Ilkay Gundogan, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Park Joo-ho and Shinji Kagawa.
Qabala concentrated five defenders in a small area surrounding their penalty box, which gave Dortmund some problems at first. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had the game's first chance after 17 minutes but failed to beat keeper Dawid Pietrzkiewicz in a one-on-one.
Marco Reus broke the deadlock in the 28th minute, scoring from the edge of the box after a nifty lay-off from Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Aubameyang doubled Dortmund's lead moments before intermission.
An own goal by Qabala's attacker Sergei Zenjov and a thumping shot from Mkhitaryan in the span of three minutes of the second half killed the game.
Dortmund need one point in the next fixture at Krasnodar at the end of November to win the group, while Qabala will find solace in the fact that they haven't gotten clobbered by Dortmund.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
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After choosing to stay at home for the game in Azerbaijan due to safety concerns, Henrikh Mkhitaryan made up for the missed opportunity with another trademark performance.
As is so often this season, he was the best player on the pitch. He assisted both first-half goals, scored a beauty himself and generally was too much to handle for his overmatched opponents. The Armenian also hit the post twice and could easily have scored a hat-trick.
The 26-year-old has now assisted 12 goals in all competitions this season, leading all players in Europe's top five leagues, according to Opta.
Loser: Dawid Pietrzkiewicz
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Playing against much better opposition often leads to keepers rising above their normal level and delivering top-notch performances. Qabala didn't have such luck.
Polish goalkeeper Dawid Pietrzkiewicz got his first start in the Europa League, with regular No. 1 Dmytro Bezotosny unavailable because of a foot injury.
The 27-year-old looked awkward right from the start, almost putting a deflected shot into his own net during the first 10 minutes. He wasn't entirely at fault for any of the four goals, although one could say he should've done better against Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the 2-0. He just didn't have the kind of performance Qabala would've needed in order to keep the game close.
Winner: Sven Bender
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Former Germany international Bender got another chance to prove himself in the centre of defence, starting in place of Sokratis Papastathopoulos. The 26-year-old seems to grow more and more into that role, with Thursday his most impressive performance yet.
Granted, Qabala didn't pose a real threat for Dortmund, but Bender was one of the main reasons it remained that way for the full 90 minutes: He smothered every attack before any danger could develop.
He had four tackles, eight interceptions, five clearances and blocked two shots, per WhoScored, leading his side in all four categories.
Bender's main rival for the role as first back-up to the regular centre-backs, Neven Subotic, meanwhile spent the whole game on the bench and has only played twice under Tuchel. With performances like this, it's easy to see why Bender is preferred.
Loser: Schalke 04
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Schalke were preparing for their Europa League match at Sparta Prague during Dortmund's game, but if they caught glimpses of it, they won't have been happy.
The Black and Yellows had as comfortable an evening as it gets in a European competition and could afford to rest key players like Shinji Kagawa or Ilkay Gundogan. And with the game decided at half-time, if not sooner, the entire Signal Iduna Park got in the mood for Sunday's clash with the archrivals. That includes the players, who took the foot off the gas midway through the second half.
Schalke could get lucky after all, however, as Reus had to leave the game at half-time with slight problems to his thigh. Tuchel admitted after the game (relayed by ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko): "Everything is possible; Marco Reus may be fit for the derby, but he also might miss the match."
Reus did seem to pick up the injury when he scored the goal and played on without too much difficulty, but with his extensive injury history, Tuchel will err on the side of caution with his star midfielder.
Winner: Thomas Tuchel
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Dortmund's head coach is still unbeaten in Europe with his new club, having won seven of the eight games since the end of July.
Tuchel decided to rotate his squad and was rewarded with strong performances from Sven Bender, Lukasz Piszczek and Gonzalo Castro, while regulars like Ilkay Gundogan and Shinji Kagawa are well rested for the clash against Schalke on Sunday. Tuchel joked (via the club's Twitter account) about the derby in his postgame press conference, calling it an extra competition for the club.
The early qualification for the next round will allow Tuchel to manage his squad for the remaining two games in the Europa League. He could, for example, well opt to leave some players at home and save them the long trip to Krasnodar at the end of the month.
