Match Ratings: BVB Continue Perfect Start to 2023 With 2-0 Win Against Leverkusen

It was an evening of headlines at the BayArena on Sunday. High-flying Bayer Leverkusen had been on fire after hiring Spanish great Xabi Alonso, and their young German prodigy, Florian Wirtz, was back in the starting XI after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a torn ACL. But Leverkusen weren't the only ones to spring a surprise in their starting lineup, ad Sebastien Haller was given his first start for Borussia Dortmund since joining the club in the summer, before being sidelined for the first half of the season following a testicular cancer diagnosis.

Leverkusen came in to the game in great form having won five on the trot in the Bundesliga, but their tactics were inferior to Edin Terzic’s squad as Dortmund new boy Karim Adeyemi recorded his first league goal since joining BVB last summer. Dortmund’s lead was later doubled thanks to a strong run and cross from Marius Wolf, which Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba unintentionally netted. The race for European Competition is heating up, with just 5 points separating first and sixth place, with Dortmund currently occupying fourth.

Here’s our ratings from Sunday’s important win against Bayer Leverkusen:

Starting XI

Gregor Kobel

Joey: 8

Paul: 9

I think Kobel was far and away the best player on the pitch, on either side. He kept out a total of 1.1 post-shot expected goals, which is a really good performance. There were some solid performances elsewhere, but if it wasn’t for Kobel BVB might not have won this game.

Yash: 8.5

These three points are largely due to a spectacular performance between the sticks from big Greg, who singlehandedly kept the turbocharged Leverkusen frontline from scoring.

Marius Wolf

Photo by Marius Becker/picture alliance via Getty Images

Joey: 8

Wolf came off the bench midweek for a brief, but impressive performance. I’m glad that Terzic decided to #UnleashtheWolf early against Leverkusen. Wolf has a great work ethic and displayed several sprints between attack and defense.

Paul: 8

Wolf is incredibly easy to root for. He may not be the best player in the team, but he puts in a shift wherever he plays, and he can usually find a way to have a positive impact on the game. Sunday was no different.

Yash: 8

The Wolf was unleashed at right-back today, and he delivered. He combined well with Brandt going forward and did not shy away from the more physical side of the contest.

Niklas Süle

Joey: 7

Paul: 6

Yash: 6

Nico Schlotterbeck

Joey: 8

It’s amazing what we see from Schlotterbeck when he doesn’t have to be constantly compensating for Guerreiro’s defensive lapses.

Paul: 7

Nico has been pretty inconsistent since joining Dortmund, but I do wonder how much of that is because he isn’t put into a position to succeed. As Joey points out, he did look a lot better without the gaps left by Guerreiro to worry about.

Yash: 6

Schlotti and the Fridge put in similar performances, looking largely competent but getting caught a little flat-footed on occasion.

Julian Ryerson

Joey: 6

Paul: 5

Yash: 5

Showed real commitment and desire, but never really got to grips with Leverkusen’s rapid right-hand side. Picked up a deserved yellow for accumulation.

Emre Can

Joey: 7

Paul: 6

Can has looked solid in the last few games he has played. I don’t think he was brilliant yesterday, but the fact he didn’t do anything incredibly stupid in this or any recent game is real progress.

Yash: 7

Salih Özcan

Joey: 6

Paul: 6

Yash: 7

Much better from Öz. The only real blot on his performance was that needless yellow, which rules him out of our weekend fixture against Freiburg.

Jude Bellingham

Joey: 7

Paul: 7

Yash: 7.5

Playing him as a makeshift 10 was an interesting experiment, but I think he only really started to look his best when Brandt came inside to take some of the creative onus off his shoulders. Still, a very good performance overall.

Julian Brandt

Joey: 8

Brandt has become one of our most consistent players week in and week out. He’s found a consistency this season that has been lacking in prior years. With his assist today, Brandt became the 3rd youngest player to record 50 Bundesliga Assists since records were kept. I’m on the #Brandtwagon

Paul: 8

Yash: 8

Never in doubt. Picked up a lovely assist for the first goal and looked the most threatening player in black and yellow all evening.

Karim Adeyemi

Joey: 7

Karim still has a long way to go if he’s going to impress me by the end of the season. This was a good start though. He finally, FINALLY, scored his first Bundesliga goal. The relief on his face after scoring tells us a lot.

Paul: 7

Yash: 7.5

Easily his best game in a Dortmund shirt. His work rate continues to impress me, and that long-overdue goal will hopefully spark a bit of form going into the second half of the season.

Sebastian Haller

Joey: 7

A very versatile performance from Haller; he’s shaping up to be a complete-package striker who can do so much more than these one-dimensional strikers who score goals but lack cooperation with their team. Haller’s unselfishness could be why he hasn't scored yet, but he will with a little more time.

Paul: 7

You can really see how much of a difference it makes when BVB have someone as good as Haller leading the line.

Yash: 7

Substitutes

Anthony Modeste

Joey: 6

Paul: 5

Yash: 5

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens

Joey: 6

Paul: 6

Yash: 4

Mats Hummels

N/A

Marco Reus

N/A

Overall

Joey: 7

This was an important away win for BVB and their second consecutive victory away from home. Only Union Berlin has also won all three games since the season restart. I’m cautiously optimistic that Dortmund will continue improving.

Paul: 7

I don’t think this was a particularly convincing win, but I think it would be unreasonable to expect that from BVB away from home against Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen are a really solid side that have been on a bit of a tear lately, and Dortmund found a way to win against them. That counts for a lot in this case.

Yash: 7

This performance wasn’t perfect, as our defence still lacks a bit of leadership without Hummels in the back four, and we had to rely on Kobel to keep us in the lead. Going forward, however, it seems as though the pieces are beginning to fall into place, with Wolf’s return to the starting XI and Haller’s run of good form especially welcome.

Terzic’s ploy of starting Brandt wider seemed to pay off as well, as our midfield three largely outfought Leverkusen’s, leaving him free to create. Adeyemi was also started in an unusual position, occupying the left-wing slot. This, too, turned out to be a good call, as he did a competent job of shutting down the pacy Frimpong.