Match Ratings: Dortmund down Chelsea at the Westfalenstadion

Borussia Dortmund went into their midweek clash against Chelsea on a great run of form, with a 100% record in 2023, but this expensively assembled Chelsea side were sure to be a serious test of the progress BVB have made in the second half of the season. Despite some hairy moments, Dortmund came away from the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie with another win, and with a real shot at progressing to the Quarter Finals.

Here’s our player ratings for BVB’s 1-0 win against Chelsea:

Starting XI

Gregor Kobel

Paul: 8

Multiple excellent saves in the second half.

Joey: 9

Greg was on the top of his game for this match.

Yash: 9

Absolutely massive.

Rapha Guerreiro

Paul: 6

Joey: 6

Rapha can be difficult to grade because he can be so inconsistent. We were lucky a couple of times that Chelsea missed shots after poor defending. He sometimes leaves Schlotterbeck to cover two separate defender.

Yash: 7

I appreciated his work rate and willingness to get stuck in defensively, and he was handy in the attack as usual.

Nico Schlotterbeck

Paul: 7

Joey: 7

Several duals won, blocked shots and overall strong showing with nearly a dozen clearances

Yash: 7

Niklas Süle

Paul: 7

Joey: 7

“Big Fridge” has really been finding his form recently.

Yash: 6

Marius Wolf

Paul: 7

Joey: 7

I love Marius Wolf. His effort is always outstanding and his wing-back position allow him to demonstrate both attacking and defensive prowess. I’m hoping his 73’ substitution was precautionary as he’s an in-form player at the moment. #UnleashtheWolf

Yash: 7.5

Made Mudryk looked utterly useless. Another top, top performance from Marius.

Emre Can

Paul: 8

Emre Can has unfortunately made a habit of doing some dumb things in big Champions League games for Dortmund. Against Chelsea, he walked a fine line between playing with a ton of passion and heart, and losing his mind and doing something silly. Thankfully, he stayed on the right side of that line, and he was brilliant. In particular, he made an amazing clearance to keep Dortmund ahead in the second half.

Joey: 8

Yash: 8.5

Aggressive, tenacious and committed. Our Renaissance man was a giant in the midfield, winning the most tackles and duels of any player on the pitch. He also saved a certain goal with THAT clearance.

Salih Özcan

Paul: 6

Joey: 6

I thought Oz was just okay in this match and his statistics do not reflect an impactful performance. Perhaps we will see Mo Dahoud reenter the starting XI soon.

Yash: 6

A necessary evil in a game like this, he did a pretty good job of pressing Chelsea’s midfield. Lacked any invention going forward as usual, but that’s not his job.

Jude Bellingham

Paul: 6

Joey: 6

Rather quiet game from the acting captain

Yash: 6

I don’t think he was awful, he just wasn’t at his usual standard and Emre Can’s incredible showing might be skewing the ratings here. It’s obvious that his creative side only thrives when he isn’t the only creative player in the middle.

Julian Brandt

Paul: 7

Joey: 8

Brandt made life difficult for Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell as Julian out-maneuvered the English defender on multiple occasions. I’m on the #Brandtwagon

Yash: 8

Looked a regular threat coming in off the right-hand side, continuing to make key pass after key pass. Despite his lack of pace, his dribbling ability and movement made sure that Chilwell had a bit of a torrid time.

Karim Adeyemi

Paul: 8

What a goal!

Joey: 8

Ditto.

Yash: 8

Meep meep! Chelsea’s newest nine-figure man Enzo Fernandez will not enjoy watching this game back. Adeyemi’s 2023 so far has gone from strength to strength; he’s looking a lot like I hoped he might when I was writing the 2023 preview. His work rate and athleticism were on full display, as he fought well when we were pinned back and always looked ready to spring away on the counter.

Sebastien Haller

Paul: 6

Joey: 6

Had a few decent attempts on goal but was mostly silenced by Chelsea’s defense

Yash: 5

Quiet, and didn’t really offer much going forward.

Substitutions

Anthony Modeste

Paul: 5

Joey: 4

Yash: 5

Julian Ryerson

Paul: 6

Joey: 6

Yash: 6

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens

N/A

Overall

Paul: 7

Joey: 8

Going into this match, I was cautiously optimistic. Dortmund were/are in form and Chelsea has been struggling despite massive spending in the recent transfer windows. I feel proud to declare that money can’t buy titles, but I also know Dortmund’s job is only half over. Our defense was strong and Kobel showed up when he needed to. This was a very open and even match in my opinion, and thankfully Karim Adeyemi’s second half effort was a brilliant display of individual talent. 30-million-euro Karim Adeyemi outpaced 121-million-euro Enzo Fernandez before dribbling around 80-million-euro keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to put Dortmund ahead in this tie.

Yash: 6

The first and second halves were almost two separate games in and of themselves, with us dominating the first and sitting back the second. Terzic’s ploy of starting Brandt wide in order to play with a more destructive middle three worked, as Chelsea made heavy weather of getting around them, while the offensive machinery worked more or less smoothly enough in both halves.

Make no mistake about it, though, the Blues weren’t much good today; they looked sloppy and largely devoid of ideas in possession. However, we really only have big Greg (and the crossbar) to thank for the win, as we did gift them some real chances. I’m firmly in the Hummels camp, and I continue to think that, despite his lack of pace, he organises the defence far better than either Schlotti or the Fridge, and that sort of vocal leadership and calmness will be what we need when we travel to Stamford Bridge next week. I’d like to label this a “mature” performance, but I think we got a lot luckier than that would suggest. Regardless of how it happened, a win is a win, and this one feels just that much sweeter given Chelsea’s recent spending spree.

Your Thoughts?

Do you agree with our ratings?