Man of the Match Poll: Borussia Dortmund Suffer Gutting 3-1 Defeat to Ajax

Borussia Dortmund went into tonight’s game with the shadow of their 4-0 loss to Ajax in the reverse fixture hanging over their heads, knowing that they’ve got to do a lot better this time. Despite their best efforts, the result was the same, but this time it wasn’t Dortmund’s doing.

BVB fell victim to a terrible call by the officials, leading to Mats Hummels getting a red card that was never deserved. Unfortunately, that didn’t help Dortmund one bit, because they had to play for an hour with ten men, and they made a real go of it, going 1-0 up from a Marco Reus penalty in the first half.

They managed to hold their lead for as long as possible, but you could see them start to retreat as they tired out, and sure enough, that’s when Ajax broke through.

So it was another loss to Ajax, but this one was much less embarrassing, and the players can be proud of the effort.

Here’s my nomination’s for tonight’s Man of the Match:

Jude Bellingham

He’s earned a permanent spot in the Man of the Match nominations these days, but Bellingham was absolutely brilliant today. He was absolutely everywhere, and was unlucky not to get himself on the scoresheet.

Marius Wolf

Wolf earns so much favor from the sheer volume of work he does, and he’s a tremendous asset to this team. Especially when they went down to ten men! I can’t help but feel that Dortmund wouldn’t have ended up losing if he hadn’t had to leave the game early. Hopefully his injury is not serious.

Gregor Kobel

Like Jude, Kobel has become something of a regular feature in the nominations this season. He conceded three goals, but I don’t think any of them were on him.

Julian Brandt

I was toying between Marco Reus and Julian Brandt for the final nomination, and I think either of them would be totally warranted selection, but Brandt just about won out for me. He was doing all the things he does so well, creating chances, moving the ball well in the final third, and progressing it into dangerous positions, but on top of all that he also put in a real shift. It still feels like he has got so much more to give, but recent performances are a good sign.