Match Ratings: Borussia Dortmund End Julen Lopetegui’s Reign at Sevilla in 4-1 Champions League Win

There’s nothing more frustrating than coming away from a close fought game empty-handed, especially when the final score ends up looking like a bit of a pasting! Well, perhaps there is something... I imagine it’s even more frustrating when that happens, and the end result is that you LOSE YOUR JOB! Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla have had a really rough start to the season, so he can hardly be surprised that this 4-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund cost him his job. But it’s still a pretty rough way to go.

Lopetegui’s loss is BVB’s gain, however. The xG from last night’s 4-1 victory suggested it was a pretty even affair (Sevilla 2.1 - 2.2 BVB), but I think Dortmund did ultimately deserve their victory, even if it wasn’t quite as the final score suggests.

Anyway, on to the ratings:

Starting XI

Alexander Meyer

Paul: 9

Maybe there is hope for Meyer yet? He made a bunch of really, really good saves. One or two were possibly even world class saves. Meyer absolutely deserved a clean sheet, and it’s a shame he didn’t get one last night.

Joey: 9

Sean: 9

Meyer earned himself a fair bit of criticism after his abysmal showing against Manchester City, but he completely redeemed himself yesterday.

Niklas Süle

Paul: 5

Joey: 6.5

This wasn’t one of Süle’s best performances, but he did have a high success rate in his passing. That said, he really needs to communicate better with Schlotterbeck.

Sean: 7

I actually liked Süle’s game. I thought he was much better than Schlotterbeck and covered up a few of Nico’s errors.

Nico Schlotterbeck

Paul: 4

I don’t think either of the center backs looked particularly good. If it wasn’t for Meyer, BVB might have been made to pay.

I’m growing increasingly convinced that, as good as both Süle and Schlotterbeck are, they are not ready to command the backline. It feels like we need Hummels in the big games.

Joey: 6

Sean: 5

Schlotterbeck is now in a bit of a funk, with several poor performances in a row with Germany and Dortmund. Yesterday it wasn’t the aggressive tackles that did him in, but falling asleep on a corner kick that led to Sevilla’s goal.

Raphael Guerreiro

Paul: 6

A brilliant touch followed by a perfect finish to kick Dortmund’s night off. I don’t remember him doing tons otherwise, but that finish alone was enough.

Joey: 6

Sean: 7

I think Paul and Joey are being a little harsh. I thought Guerreiro was much more dangerous than Thomas Meunier, for instance, and his goal was so sweet that he deserves a ton of credit.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Thomas Meunier

Paul: 5

Joey: 5.5

Meunier lacked creativity moving forward but had a reasonable game in defense. He looked sluggish at times and conceded a couple of dumb fouls. I found myself wishing Wolf was fit for the wingback role. #UnleashtheWolf

Sean: 6

Defensively speaking I thought Meunier actually had a very solid game. We tend to focus on his offensive side, but at the end of the day he’s a defender first, and he looked strong to me.

Salih Özcan

Paul: 7

Joey: 6

Sean: 7

Sevilla were on a mission to shithouse this game, so Özcan’s aggressiveness was desperately needed.

Jude Bellingham

Paul: 9

Brilliant pass to set up the opening goal, and an even better run to score the second. He was amazing throughout, and was prepared to stand his ground and fight in such a physical game.

I am always very reluctant to dish out extreme scores. It’s pretty rare that a player actually puts in a performance so poor that it deserves a 1, and it is equally rare that players earn 10s. I don’t think Bellingham’s performance was quite there... But it was pretty close!

Joey: 9

Putting it simply: This was a captain’s performance. Jude commanded the midfield and was involved in nearly every attacking play. This was a superb performance capped off with both a goal and assist.

Jude is taking his new leadership role very seriously. Certainly a contender for Man of the Match.

Sean: 10

I don’t like to give out 10s very often, but I genuinely don’t know what else Jude could have done yesterday. He was a leader in every aspect of BVB’s game, his goal was beautiful, his assist was beautiful, and he more than stood up to Sevilla’s nasty tactics.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Emre Can

Paul: 5

Y’know, perhaps it’s not such a bad thing when a player has a very quiet game?

Joey: 6

Is it wrong for me to make this assessment based on the fact that Can didn’t receive any cards? I don’t even remember him making a bonehead tackle. This was actually a promising performance.

Sean: 5

Karim Adeyemi

Paul: 6

Joey: 7

It’s good to see the young German get some minutes after his injury-riddled arrival in Dortmund. I thought this was a solid showing and on another day he could have had a brace. I think the best is yet to come from Adeyemi.

Sean: 7

I thought this was Adeyemi’s best game in black and yellow so far. His production has been a little low, but he grabbed a goal last night and would have had an assist if Özcan hadn’t whiffed on a tap-in.

Julian Brandt

Paul: 7

Hard at work throughout the first half and had some nice ideas that didn’t quite come off. Kept plugging away, and eventually got his goal late in the second half. Admittedly he benefited from some pretty poor defending, but he did what he needed to do!

Joey: 7

Sean: 6

Youssoufa Moukoko

Paul: 8

There’s still elements of his game that need work (the often selfish decision-making is frustrating, though not necessarily a bad instinct for a young striker), but there’s no question that Moukoko is a real talent. He deserved at least one goal last night, and he was even creating several opportunities for himself out of very little. BVB looked a lot better with him in the starting lineup.

Joey: 7.5

Sean: 8

Moukoko did everything but score last night. He had chance after chance and contributed two assists, so it’s not like he wasn’t productive. But as a goalscorer, I could tell he desperately wanted one.

Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images

Substitutes

Donyell Malen

Paul: 5

Joey: 5

Sean: 6

I give him credit for getting into a situation where he was able to botch a shot on a breakaway.

Tom Rothe

N/A

Anthony Modeste

N/A

Antonios Papadopoulos

N/A

Thorgan Hazard

N/A

Overall

Paul: 7

I think there’s two ways you can spin last night’s performance. There’s the optimistic view: the offense was firing on all cylinders and looked better than it has done all season; and there’s the pessimistic view: the defense looked disjointed and porous, and if it wasn’t for Meyer’s great performance, things could have been very different. I think there is truth to both. I do think BVB deserved the win, but the 4-1 scoreline makes it look like we dismantled Sevilla, and I think that’s a little generous.

Overall, I’m happier with the offensive display than I am disappointed with the defense. I think the defensive issues can be fixed easy enough (Hummels will make a difference), but for much of this season BVB have looked really, really flat going forward, and this glimpse at progress puts me in the optimist camp.

Joey: 7

4-1 sounds like a bigger win than it was. Sevilla had nearly 60% possession and just as many shots as BVB. On another day this could have played out like a 1-1 draw, but something clicked in the attacking midfield and four different players found the net. Perhaps Dortmund’s style of play with Moukoko in the starting lineup is more potent than with Modeste, who is very reliant on crosses. This could also be indicative of Sevilla’s atrocious start to the season. It’s of little surprise that Julen Lopetegui was sacked after this match. BVB will have to be cautious not to become complacent ahead of the home fixture against Sevilla next week.

Sean: 8

I’m not too worried about the shots and expected goals being close. BVB sat back and let Sevilla back into the game only after they had amassed a three-goal lead and they could afford to be passive. For about 20 minutes in the second half I was a little worried, but once Sevilla’s second wind started to fade, BVB began to rip them apart on the counter.