Player ratings are back, and I’m not sure that we could have picked a worse time to start them up again. Friday’s Hannover-BVB matchup was mind-numbingly dull, and as much as I’d just like to scrub it from my memory forever and go about my weekend, the show must go on.

Manager

10. Absolutely nailed it. He went into a difficult playing environment, set up his team to soak up pressure, snuffed out scoring chances, brought on the youngsters in the final minutes, and got a deserved point out of it. Alright, on to the next one!

...

Wait a minute, folks... I’m being told that Borussia Dortmund is not, in fact, a bottom-feeder EPL club.

I guess, then, maybe he could have brought in Sancho a bit sooner? And maybe set up the squad to... you know... attack?

Starting XI

Bürki: π

Bürki didn’t face a single shot for the entire duration of the match. He did play the ball a couple times, but it was never anything important. On that note, what do you give a keeper who did pretty much nothing during the whole match? 10? 0? 5? 6, because that seems to be “average” for whatever reason? I’ll go with π.

Schmelzer: 4

The most impressive man on the pitch yesterday was Hannover’s right winger, Linton Maina. The 19-year-old ran riot over Schmelzer nearly every opportunity he got, and Schmelle could just not keep up. He also offered nothing going forward. It looks like, if Guerreiro doesn’t work out, BVB are gonna be looking for another left-back come next summer.

Diallo: 7

Hannover dominated possession of the ball for much of the match, so Diallo and Akanji were both very active blocking crosses into the box. They did exceptionally well in this regard. Hannover did not manage a single shot on goal, which is about all you can ask from your center backs.

Akanji: 7

Akanji and Diallo haven’t played with each other for that long, but they already work incredibly together. They have potential to be an elite center back pairing for years to come if they maintain their current pace of development.

Piszczek: 5

Lukasz wasn’t as poor defensively as Schmelzer, but his play still left a lot to be desired. I wouldn’t mind having Hakimi or even Toljan given a shot if his play doesn’t improve soon.

Witsel: 6

He did very well in his defensive role, but not nearly generating any offense. His passes going forward were often off the mark, and his interplay with Dahoud, Delaney, and the forwards was severely lacking.

Delaney: 5

Delaney was also fine defensively, but his passing game was even less dynamic than Witsel. The way Favre wants to play requires midfielders that can play around pressure and calmly maintain a buildup of play. Delaney was unable to do so yesterday.

Dahoud: 4

His decision-making is just soooo bad. There were many times when he could have played two separate players in, and instead played a pass back, or worse, rocketed a shot into the stands.

Wolf: 4

Much maligned so far in the media and online for his performance yesterday, Wolf definitely had a sub-par performance. His touches were off, his passes were off, his runs were off, he was... off.

Reus: 7

Marco was by far Dortmund’s strongest performer yesterday. The only one who came remotely close to scoring, Marco struck the woodwork twice from BVB’s only two clear chances of the night.

Philipp: 5

Played as Dortmund’s main center forward. He got practically no service, so the blame can’t be entirely laid at his feet, but he also didn’t do much pressing Hannover’s back line or contributing to the buildup of play with holding-play, or anything else for that matter. The highlight of his day was getting smashed in the face and having to come off.

Substitutes

Jaden Sancho: N/A

We were SCREAMING for him to be brought on for Wolf, but Favre refused to do so until around the 80th minute. He didn’t have enough time to have an impact, and even when he was on, he didn’t look great.

Raphael Guerreiro: N/A

Also didn’t have time to make an impact. Came on in the 86th minute.

This Match: 90

As in: 90 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

Your Thoughts

What are your match ratings for yesterday’s goalless draw? Leave your thoughts below.