Borussia Dortmund vs. Cologne: Winners and Losers from Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund and FC Cologne drew 2-2 on the final Bundesliga matchday of the 2015/16 campaign in Westfalenstadion on Saturday.
While both sides had very little to play for, the Black and Yellows went with a full-strength lineup, whereas the Billy Goats rewarded some back-ups, such as goalkeeper Thomas Kessler, with a spot in the starting XI.
Much like Dortmund's opponents on the previous matchday, Eintracht Frankfurt, Cologne dropped deep with five men at the back at most times, congesting the field in the central zones and making it tough for Dortmund to combine through the middle.
This time, however, the Ruhr side didn't sleep through the first phase of the game, rather going ahead thanks to a lovely Gonzalo Castro goal from distance.
Cologne's answer didn't take long, with Anthony Modeste putting the visitors' first shot on target past Roman Burki after a quick counter-attack over the right side in the 27th minute.
Four minutes from half-time, the Billy Goats even took the lead when a simple pass from Leonardo Bittencourt had Dortmund's defence, including Burki, scrambling. Milos Jojic, like Bittencourt a former Dortmund man, scored with a clever chip.
It took the hosts 30 minutes to get back on level terms in the second half, but Marco Reus' beautiful free-kick was worth the wait.
Overall, Cologne deserved the point they took from Dortmund, where they still haven't won in 25 years. Finishing in the top half of the table for the first time since the 1992/92 campaign, it has been a solid season.
As for Dortmund, at least they completed a full season without a league defeat at home, but the performance can't have given them too much confidence for the DFB-Pokal final against Bayern Munich.
Here, Bleacher Report picks the winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Peter Stoger
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Austrian head coach Peter Stoger's team ends the season on a run of five games without a defeat, a fact made even more impressive considering their safety was more or less guaranteed for weeks.
His game plan wasn't the most innovative, but a team that knows its limitations and plays well within them can be very hard to beat. Cologne were just that and more.
Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel called the draw lucky for Dortmund, per local paper Ruhr Nachrichten on Twitter, and Stoger himself lamented his side's lack of coolness in front of goal, as the club relayed (links in German).
The Rhinelanders have now gone two seasons without a defeat against Dortmund, an accomplishment in and of itself, and the head coach deserves a great deal of the credit.
Loser: Sven Bender
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Sven Bender's almost seamless transition from defensive midfielder to centre-back has been one of the more interesting stories of Dortmund's season. The 27-year-old has hardly put a foot wrong since making the move into defence.
It was very much out of character for him to be at fault for Cologne's first goal, but there's no denying that he was, even though it was down to a slip. Had he not lost his footing, he could easily have dealt with a wayward ball coming his way, but as it went, he tried to control the ball with his knees.
To make matters worse, he was now unable to get back into his position for the ensuing Cologne counter-attack, when goalscorer Modeste was all by himself in the middle of the pitch.
Bender's day only lasted until half-time, when he made way for Matthias Ginter as Dortmund switched from three to four men in defence.
Winner: Marco Reus
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Marco Reus didn't have a great game by any stretch of the imagination. Too often he took the wrong direction in his dribbles or missed the right moment to release a team-mate. Still, though, he was Dortmund's only somewhat constant source of danger in front of goal.
Per WhoScored.com, he and striker Adrian Ramos paced both teams with three shots, but Reus' efforts were far more convincing than the Colombian's.
Reus' reward was a free-kick goal that, granted, Kessler possibly could have saved. It was still a significant one, setting a new team record with 82 goals in this Bundesliga season.
It was also Dortmund's first goal from a direct free-kick in over two years—Robert Lewandowski had scored the last one in his final league match for Dortmund in May 2014. For Reus, it was the first free-kick goal since November 2013, per stats provider Opta.
Loser: Borussia Dortmund
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After a lacklustre performance against Frankfurt, this match was one last opportunity to get into a groove before the cup final on May 21, but it didn't go that way.
Tuchel was disappointed after the match, per Matthias Dersch of Ruhr Nachrichten (link in German), saying that it feels like his side ended the season after 32 matches and that it's going to be very difficult to regain form in time for the cup final.
Without midfield maestros Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan—missing with injury and suspension, respectively—Dortmund rarely managed to break down Cologne's many-legged defence. Much like the Frankfurt match, they had all the possession—per WhoScored, Julian Weigl had over 200 touches when he left the pitch for Erik Durm in the 83rd minute—but only managed to score with shots from distance.
The Black and Yellows will be glad they don't have to play against another very defensive side in Berlin's Olympiastadion in the cup final, but in their current form, they don't stand much of a chance against Bundesliga champions Bayern.
Winner: Cologne's Centre-Backs
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Whenever an inferior side looks this good against a team like Dortmund, it's likely down to a group effort. That was the case on Saturday, with Cologne's three centre-backs Mergim Mavraj, Dominic Maroh and Dominique Heintz all putting in an excellent shift defensively.
Per WhoScored, Mavraj made a whopping nine clearances, Maroh closely trailing him with seven. The best all-around performance arguably came from Heintz, who made five interceptions along with six clearances and made life very tough for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who went over Heintz's side for much of the game.
