Borussia Dortmund vs. Tottenham: Winners and Losers from Europa League
Tame Tottenham Hotspur were humbled by brilliant Borussia Dortmund in Thursday's Europa League round-of-16 battle of the Premier League and Bundesliga's respective second-place sides. A 3-0 win for Thomas Tuchel's side all but sealed their progression beyond next week's return leg in north London.
Dortmund were in charge virtually from the off, and their first-half pressure finally told on the half-hour mark.
Pulling Tottenham out of shape on the right-hand side of the penalty box, Marcel Schmelzer found space to cross. Getting between the ball-watching Kevin Wimmer and an unprepared Ben Davies, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang converted with a neat glancing header.
The home side required just 16 minutes of the second half to extend their lead. Spurs again failed to stop a cross from Dortmund's left—this time via a short corner—and Neven Subotic was allowed to head toward a similarly unmarked Marco Reus at the back post.
It soon got even worse for Spurs.
A sweeping Dortmund attack drew the attention of Toby Alderweireld and lured a confused Kieran Trippier out of position. Aubameyang found Gonzalo Castro in the vacated right side, the midfielder chipping behind the again static Wimmer for Reus to fire home.
Read on for the winners and loses from this disappointingly one-sided European clash.
Loser: Kevin Wimmer
1 of 5
Reus' second goal was testament to the brilliance of Borussia Dortmund's at times breathtaking ability to up their speed. Yet it was made damn sure easier by Wimmer allowing him to go completely unmarked behind.
It was a tough return to Germany all round for the former Cologne player. He was caught ball-watching for Aubameyang's opener too and was part of a defence given barely a moment's rest against the dominant Black and Yellows.
You can sympathise with Wimmer to an extent here. It was a long night for him and Alderweireld at centre-back, left to cover for stretched, also unprotected full-backs and a midfield unit not equipped to stop such relentless attacking.
But better concentration from the 23-year-old might have slowed Dortmund's momentum a little longer. Perhaps it would have been the difference between Spurs at least heading home with a more realistic second-leg chance.
With Jan Vertonghen expected back soon, per Sky Sports' Stephen Turner, Wimmer will need to reaffirm his credentials in the coming games if he hopes to keep his place, too.
Winner: Marco Reus
2 of 5
After the hard-going of trying to break down Bayern Munich in last Saturday's 0-0 draw, Marco Reus enjoyed this confidence-boosting 3-0 win as much as anyone.
The attacker saw far more of the ball and—in the first half up against the eager but inexperienced Josh Onomah and nervy Kieran Trippier—received further time to work with it. Compared to just 67 per cent against Bayern (from a paltry 12 passes), his 83 per cent completed pass rate against Tottenham emphasised the greater freedom.
If there were still some doubts about the quality of Reus' contributions (and going by the defence of him by Bleacher Report's Dortmund featured columnist Lars Pollmann, there were), he arrested them after the interval.
Tuchel granted his team licence to operate more flexibly and the Germany international capitalised, moving inward from his left-wing starting berth to add to Spurs' confusion.
Winner: Mats Hummels
3 of 5
Beyond the scorers Aubameyang and Reus, you could pick just about any performance from Borussia Dortmund's lineup and find something to applaud.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan played sumptuously at times, taunting Spurs left-back Ben Davies as he repeatedly instigated nerve-shredding inside and outside overlaps. The assured Julian Weigl controlled things in midfield without barely breaking a sweat.
We will choose Mats Hummels for our next Dortmund winner, however.
Partly for his eye-pleasing sorties forward and the often successfully urgent, penetrative passes that followed—a team-best 94 per cent completed, as tallied by Squawka.
Partly for the pleasure the home side's skipper will have undoubtedly got overseeing a consummate, almost easy win. A rarity in such big games and an indictment of Tottenham's poor showing.
Loser: Mauricio Pochettino
4 of 5
That head coach Mauricio Pochettino would make some changes to his Tottenham team for this game was never in doubt.
Rotation is an understood part of modern football, at this late stage of the season especially. It has served Spurs well this season in the Europa League too with altered sides having enough to impressively see off Monaco and Fiorentina.
Such changes have to be measured for the occasion and quality of the opposition, though.
Whether through apathy to the competition or underestimating Dortmund's qualities, Pochettino botched this night. His failure to augment some understandable alterations with strategically smart choices wasted an opportunity for Spurs to test themselves against formidable opposition.
With Dele Alli suspended and Eric Dier left at home, the physical and skillful Mousa Dembele was a must for this game. If Harry Kane was so in need of a rest in attack, then at least starting Erik Lamela would have given Spurs a semblance of aggression.
Instead their soft midfield underbelly was consistently exposed while the failure to give Dortmund anything to think about was exacerbated by the attacking midfield's general refusal to pitch in with anything defensively.
"It was a bad day, we are very disappointed," Pochettino told Tottenham's official Twitter. "Sometimes this happens in football, they were better."
Dortmund were better. But Tottenham—in their performance and strategy—should have been too.
Winner: Thomas Tuchel
5 of 5
"This Dortmund side would be a legit contender for the Champions League title," Bleacher Report's Dortmund writer Lars Pollmann said of the Bundesliga's side victory. "No doubt about that. Only Barcelona/Bayern above them."
That is debatable, but the general enthusiasm for der BVB is understandable.
They have gone from strength to strength this season and have not lost a game so far in 2016. Having beat Porto and now surely about to dispatch Tottenham, they have as good a chance of any team to win the Europa League.
Boss Tuchel has overseen a remarkable campaign already, and this win—so long as it is backed up at White Hart Lane—will go down as one of the high points. This performance displayed the Bundesliga's strength and, more importantly, highlighting the considerable capabilities of his team.
With an impending return to the Champions League, the future may well be bright. But with Tuchel arranging a well-balanced and deep squad playing expressive, thrilling football, the present is turning out pretty impressively, too.
