Match Ratings: Borussia Dortmund Dominated by Wolfsburg in 2-0 Loss

Borussia Dortmund put in another tired performance last night, deservedly losing 2-0 to a Wolfsburg side that sat in 11th heading into the game. It wasn’t the worst performance of the season, nor did Wolfsburg absolutely shellac Dortmund, but there was no doubt, coming away from the game, that BVB deserved to lose. It was just a bit rubbish.

Dortmund now sit in 4th place, six points behind Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table, and we are back here again talking about a lacklustre performance against a team that BVB should really be beating. The consistency of Borussia Dortmund’s inconsistency is made even worse by the fact that Bayern Munich have looked vulnerable this season. BVB have failed to capitalise, and now the gap between the two is started to grow again.

Familiar territory for all! Here are our ratings from last night’s very disappointing game:

Starting XI

Gregor Kobel

Paul: 7

Another solid Kobel performance as he valiantly battles to keep Dortmund in another game that they deserve to lose.

Joey: 7

According to Fotmob, Greg’s xG Conceded was 2.53 so he did outperform that statistic by only conceding twice. He had some decent saves too.

Sean: 8

Screw it, nobody else will get a good rating, so why doesn’t Kobel deserve one?

Nico Schlotterbeck

Paul: 5

Joey: 6

Schlotti did have a couple of reasonable sprints for a center-back, and even had a shot that was never going to be on target. Still, the team struggled with passing last night but Nico’s success rate was over 90%.

Sean: 4

Schlotterbeck inadvertently deflected the ball on Wolfsburg’s opening goal right to Micky van de Ven, who pounced on an open header and fired the ball past Gregor Kobel. It’s not the most egregious mistake in the world, but he also made a few other mistakes defending corners and free kicks. It’s starting to look like a noticeable weakness of Nico’s.

Mats Hummels

Paul: 5

Joey: 5

I’m remembering that Hummels is 33 and maybe can’t maintain his highest quality when asked to perform for 90 minutes every three days.

Sean: 6

I don’t think Mats had a terrible game. He didn’t have any major mistakes that I can remember, certainly none that led to a goal.

Raphael Guerreiro

Paul: 5

Joey: 5

Rapha did have something of a save at one point, but otherwise he didn’t do much. Jakob Kaminski and Felix Nmecha dribbled circles around our poor wingback.

Sean: 4

If Guerreiro is going to play then he needs to contribute offensively, because his defensive status is currently something between “a guy” and “traffic cone.”

Niklas Süle

Paul: 8

This is probably ludicrously generous, but I just really enjoyed Süle’s performance, especially against the backdrop of the rest of an otherwise aggressively boring while also pretty bad team performance.

Joey: 8

I agree with Paul, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe Süle should have a go up front. Turns out Big Fridge is pretty fast. He also had Dortmund’s two best shots yesterday.

Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Sean: 7

I’m gonna be a bit more critical of Süle than my FTW comrades, specifically because he lost an aerial battle that gave Wolfsburg their first goal. His offensive contributions are appreciated, hence the 7, but he’s paid first and foremost to be a defender.

Salih Özcan

Paul: 6

Joey: 6

I thought Özcan had a reasonable showing with several body-contorting tackles that surprised me. I just wish he did a bit more with the ball in possession. I miss Dahoud.

Sean: 6

Jude Bellingham

Paul: 4

I think Bellingham probably picked things up a bit as the game went on, but my view of his performance was irreparably stained by him making about three unforced passes to the opponent in a row early in the game. It broke my brain, and for that I must punish Jude.

Joey: 5

Sean: 4

Jude needs a break. He’s played the most minutes of any player, and it shows. Unfortunately, he’ll probably be run into the ground again during the World Cup.

Julian Brandt

Paul: 4

Look, I know he created a lot of chances. But literally none of those chances were good chances. They were just low probability shots that were only marginally better than booting the ball at moon. And his defensive efforts were a net negative.

He’s had a really good season so far, so he’s allowed to have an off night now and again, but I think we’ve got to acknowledge when his efforts are not paying off.

Joey: 6

There’s a lot that Brandt can do with the ball since he’s creative in attacking plays, but yesterday evening he just wasn’t clicking with his teammates.

Sean: 5

Karim Adeyemi

Paul: 4

I can’t remember him doing anything...

Joey: 3

I’m really starting to question that 30 Million Euro price tag...

Sean: 4

The other day Zac wrote an article about Donyell Malen, arguing that his lack of production is starting to become a concern... so what about Adeyemi and his 0 goals and 0 assists?

Donyell Malen

Paul: 7

Donyell Malen is good now, DEAL WITH IT!

Joey: 6

“Good” might be an overstatement. Donyell Malen is getting better though.

Sean: 7

If Malen could learn another move besides cutting inside and shooting near post, that would be great. That being said, it was better than anything else any BVB player tried last night.

Youssoufa Moukoko

Paul: 6

Moukoko was pretty lively in the first half, and he always presents a threat, regardless of how he or the team are playing. That’s more than can be said for some of the performances tonight.

Joey: 6

Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images

Sean: 6

Moukoko did have a few good shots, including one that forced a strong save off Koen Casteels on a free kick.

Substitutes

Gio Reyna

Paul: 5

Joey: 5

Gio did not offer any improvement when he came on.

Sean: 5

Thorgan Hazard

Paul: 6

Joey: 7

Seven for effort.

Sean: 6

Anthony Modeste

Paul: 5

Joey: 4

Sean: 5

Sebastien Haller can’t come back quickly enough.

Marco Pasalic

N/A

Overall

Paul: 4

Not good enough, but not even bad enough for it to be moderately funny, or noteworthy. Just a bit rubbish.

Joey: 5

This match was the epitome of mediocrity. I can make excuses: Dortmund have had heavier match congestion, more injuries and blah blah blah. BVB has been a bogey team for Wolfsburg in recent history, but they entered this match coming off of a seven-match unbeaten run. Terzic and Dortmund should have been more prepared. Time to shake it off and finish 2022 in style against Monchengladbach.

Sean: 3

BVB had some good stretches, but overall it was a pretty bad performance. Wolfsburg haven’t been particularly good this season. I don’t think Niko Kovac is a good coach. They’ve got a few solid pieces, but the talent edge clearly belongs to Dortmund. Despite all this, they were the stronger team by a wide margin over the full 90 minutes. The xG shows just how hard BVB got trounced. I’m not saying they need to win every game, but they do need to play better if they’re going to compete for a Bundesliga title.