Match Ratings: RB Leipzig Steamroll a Lackluster Dortmund Side

Borussia Dortmund traveled to Leipzig for the Bundesliga’s marquee event this week. In the lead-up to the match, everyone expected the two German heavyweights to go head-to-head. Instead, Dortmund put up the worst performances of the season, if not the calendar year. The main story of the match was Dortmund coach Edin Terzic and his predecessor, Marco Rose, going head to head for the first time since Rose was fired. Now, Terzic’s tactics looked off from the start and deserve blame, but the player's effort and ability on the field today were abysmal.

So strap in because here are our (rather low) ratings from Saturday’s performance in Leipzig.

Starting XI

Alexander Meyer

Patrick: 4

I don’t know how much Meyer could do about the goals. Orban’s header was through traffic and he was wide open but maybe Meyer should’ve stopped it. Szoboszlai’s goal was nothing short of incredible. Haidara’s goal was genuinely the worst Dortmund defending I have seen in a long while. Apart from that, every shot Meyer faced was at his chest, thanks Timo. One thing I would like to note, however, is that Meyer isn’t the same leader as Kobel is. He’s less vocal, less demanding, and needs to fix these things if we can count on him to be a reliable backup.

Paul: 4

Yash: 5

I'm not sure he could have done much to stop the goals Leipzig scored.

Thomas Meunier

Patrick: 5

Meunier felt invisible to me in this game. When it felt like Dortmund needed a lung-busting run into the box, he wasn’t there. When we needed someone to challenge the pace of Timo Werner, he wasn’t there. Meunier, much like his status amongst Dortmund fans, always seemed to be in some sort of weird limbo state.

Paul: 5

Yash: 5

Meh

Niklas Süle

Patrick: 5

This was it! In the match, we finally got to see Schlotterbeck and Süle play against high-quality Bundesliga opponents! It went very poorly. Continued to be beaten by the pace of Leipzig’s frontline, it was a terrible look for the more physically dominant partner in Dortmund’s centerback duo.

Paul: 4

Yash: 3

Without Hummels, this defence doesn't function. Neither Süle nor Schlotterbeck have the personality or experience it takes to marshall a backline, and that showed today.

Nico Schlotterbeck

Patrick: 3

This was the first game where it felt like Nico Schlotterbeck was out of his depth from start to finish. He slotted seamlessly, until this game, into Dortmund’s backline. The game against Leipzig felt like Schlotterbeck forgot who he was. He had 75% passing accuracy, 36% long ball accuracy, lost Orban for the opener, and was completely beaten on Leipzig’s third. Absolutely terrible game from a terrific player.

Paul: 3

Got done on the first and third goals and just had a bad day all-round yesterday. The first time he’s looked anything but excellent since joining this summer.

Yash: 3

Bad, bad, bad. Looked completely lost without the commanding Hummels to guide him.

Raphael Guerreiro

Patrick: 2

I like Guerreiro a lot. He’s been one of my favorite players the past few years. I did not like him today. Sure, it feels like he’s playing in a system that focuses on physicality, crossing to Modeste, and providing width as a fullback. That being said, he was nothing short of abysmal today. There were several key moments throughout the game where Rapha went in for a tackle, missed, and then gave up. When it comes to tactics, it’s up to Terzic, Modeste, and Guerreiro to figure out how to get the best out of them. When it comes to effort, that is solely on Guerreiro.

Paul: 3

Yash: 3

Salih Özcan

Patrick: 4

Dortmund’s midfield was absolutely bullied by Schlager and Laimer. For the first time in his Dortmund career, Özcan was completely outclassed by Leipzig’s ability to play over the top or through Dortmund’s lines. His defense didn’t help him and he still looked bright at times. That being said, his worst performance in black and yellow to date.

Paul: 4

Yash: 3

I missed Mo today. Öz was completely dominated by Schlager and Laimer. While he is an excellent ball winner, he just doesn't have Mo’s technical ability.

Jude Bellingham

Patrick: 6

There’s only so much he can do. I honestly don’t know what to do about Dortmund’s midfield. While Bellingham is great at progressing the ball, he really shines when he has someone like Dahoud next to him to share that burden. Alongside Özcan, Bellingham can afford to push a bit more forward. When one of Dahoud or Özcan is missing, then it feels as if the sole responsibility of progressing the ball or defending in midfield falls on Jude’s very talented feet. At times, it is too much to ask.

Also, someone give this guy a break.

Paul: 5

Yash: 6

The only player to put in an acceptable performance.

Marco Reus

Patrick: 3

Fantastic player but not his game. Simply felt like he did not know how to play alongside Brandt, Wolf, and Modeste in the frontline. I think Dortmund’s attack has to go through a large overhaul in terms of tactics and Reus is the biggest question mark. I would argue that he has been our best attacker this season but I want to see one more player in Dortmund’s midfield. Reus isn’t physical enough to play out wide and he’s at his best playing behind a striker. I’m not quite sure what the solution is.

Paul: 4

Yash: 3.5

Marius Wolf

Patrick: 4

Was the brightest attacker for Dortmund because he was so direct. Wolf’s main agenda was to run down the byline and try to cross. Unfortunately for him, his crossing isn’t great. Doesn’t help that no other Dortmund attacker knew what to do.

Paul: 5

Yash: 5.5

His goal-saving tackle may have had no impact on the result, but it showed his work rate and desire. An otherwise poor performance.

Julian Brandt

Patrick: 3

On one hand, Brandt played really well the past two games and was an important creative outlet for the team in both of those. Despite that, however, he is going from making sub appearances to making three starts in 7 days. Hard to fault him for just looking tired. On the other hand, he played like ‘Bad Brandt’, the turnover machine we have seen so many times in the past. Wasn’t great this game but who knows who is at fault.

Paul: 3

After a couple really good performances, Brandt couldn’t piece anything together yesterday. I thought he was pretty poor, but how much of that was him versus others not being on the same page? And how much of it was due to fatigue? I don’t know, but it wasn’t great.

Yash: 3

Just after I told everyone to get on the #BrandtWagen... :(

Anthony Modeste

Patrick:4

Modeste strikes me as a system player. He’s the Bundesliga’s perfect poacher and unless you’re feeding him crosses and passes in the box, he doesn’t offer a whole lot. Maybe I’m judging him too quickly but Modeste has 1 goal, which was from a cross, in 5 Bundesliga games. In a team where no one likes to run down the byline and ping a ball into the box, Modeste gets very little support. Hopefully, I am wrong, but the further we get away from Modeste’s transfer, the stranger it looks.

Paul: 4

I liked the hustle, and he had a couple good looks at times, but otherwise he was pretty quiet. I don’t think he was at fault for the wider issues yesterday, so I’m not overly critical of his performance.

Yash: 3

Not his game. Leipzig stifled our wingers, rendering him completely ineffective.

Substitutes

Gio Reyna

Patrick: 6

Was definitely an improvement when he came onto the field. Still, couldn’t change the entirety of the game but I’m glad he’s slowly getting back to full fitness. Excited to see more Gio this year.

Paul: 6

He didn’t set the world game alight, but he did offer a little spark, and for that you get some credit!

Yash: 5.5

Youssoufa Moukoko

Patrick:5

Like Modeste, he didn’t have a lot of support.

Paul: 5

Yash: 5.5

Probably should have started instead of the overworked Modeste (and may have made more sense, given Leipzig's inability to defend counter-attacks). Unfortunately, he came on after Dortmund seemed to run out of energy, and received no support as a result.

Justin Njinmah

Patrick: 4

Not his fault for the low ranking considering it was his first game for Borussia Dortmund. His brief appearance highlights how thin the midfield is and how little faith Terzic places in Can.

Paul: 5

It was asking a bit much of the young lad to actually do anything of note in this game. This is not the kind of game for a young player to make his debut and actually thrive.

Yash: N/A

Won several fouls, but didn't really get involved in the play.

Emre Can

N/A

Overall

Patrick: 2

This team has a lot of problems. Nothing that can’t be fixed or explained, but still glaring problems. Defensive mistakes are still there. It appears some players lack effort at crucial times or are just fatigued from being overworked. The biggest problem is this team’s inability to score goals. Hopefully as players come back and Terzic gets more time, this team can figure itself out.

Paul: 3

My overall rating is worse than the individual ratings because I thought it was really a team problem more than any one individual. Nothing was clicking. It was definitely a poor showing all over the pitch, but I am attributing at least some of that to fatigue, which stops me giving a lower rating.

Yash: 2

This was awful watching; Terzić’s refusal to rotate the squad for the game against Copenhagen in the midweek came back to bite us rather spectacularly. Leipzig (who weren't unbelievably good themselves) crushed our lacklustre black-and-yellows just because they worked harder and seemed to want it more, which is unacceptable. However, I wouldn't be overly concerned about this specific result in the long term; this isn't much more than a blip, and I'm sure Terzić will figure out how to rotate the squad sooner rather than later. There are a couple of quality players in the U-23 and U-19 teams as well that I think could address the lack of depth in certain positions, so this shouldn't be much of a concern in the longer term. In the short run, however, I am worried; we have another “English” week, with a midweek game against the Norwegian freak and his sidekicks, and a must-win Revierderby at home. Resting players in either of these games would be foolhardy, even though our key players look overworked and fatigued. International break will be a much-needed break for the squad, but Terzić has his work cut out for him if we are to get results out of next week's games.