Dortmund Vs Werder Bremen [3-0] Bundesliga 25/26 Analysis

The usual order in the Bundesliga seems to have been restored after the first half of the 2025/2026 season.

Borussia Dortmund are back in second place behind FC Bayern, finding form again under Niko Kovač and climbing up the table.

The game that concluded the first half of the Bundesliga season for Dortmund was a home game against Werder Bremen on Tuesday evening.

It’s a busy time for Dortmund, just a couple of days after their start to the year against Eintracht Frankfurt, Kovač and his team now have to face their next opponent to round out the first 17 games.

For Werder Bremen and their coach Horst Steffen, it was actually the first game of the year after the short Christmas break, following their game against 1899 Hoffenheim, which had to be postponed due to weather-related issues.

For Werder, unlike Dortmund, their season has not been very good so far, especially at the end of 2025, the club from Northern Germany heavily struggled with consistency, failing to win any of their last five games.

In the end, Borussia Dortmund managed to beat Werder Bremen by three goals to nil, but while the result may look like the game went the expected course, that definitely was not the case.

In this tactical analysis, we will examine the tactics Horst Steffen employed to surprise Niko Kovač, how Borussia Dortmund adapted, and why the game ultimately unfolded as it did.

Borussia Dortmund Vs Werder Bremen Formations & Lineups

Niko Kovač likes to keep the base of his tactics simple and consistent; it was no wonder that he used his 3-4-2-1 formation once again.

Gregor Kobel started in goal, with a back-three consisting of Niklas Süle, Nico Schlotterbeck and Waldemar Anton in the centre started in front of him.

The double pivot consisted of Marcel Sabitzer and German international Felix Nmecha, with Brazilian Yan Couto playing as the right wingback and Julian Ryerson playing on the left.

Maximilian Bayer played as the right attacking midfielder, Carney Chukwuemeka played as the left attacking midfielder, and Fabio Silva got the start as striker over Serhou Guirassy on Tuesday.

For Horst Steffen, this game marked the second time in a row that the coach ditched his usual 4-2-3-1 formation and played with a 3-4-2-1 formation as well, mirroring what Kovač did.

While Steffen is not a huge fan of it, the players gathered around captain Marco Friedl just before the winter break and told the coaching staff that they preferred to go back to a back-three, a formation they have had a lot of success with under former coach Ole Werner.

Mio Backhaus started in goal, with Friedl as the central man in the back three, Karim Coulibaly to his left, and Amos Pieper to his right.

Yukinara Sugawara played as the right wingback, and Isaac Schmidt played as the left wingback, with Senne Lynen and Jens Stage forming the double-pivot in between them.

Romano Schmid started as the right attacking midfielder, Marco Grüll as his pendant on the left side, and the quick Justin Njinmah got the start in attack instead of newly signed Jovan Milosevic.

Werder Bremen Are Well Prepared

For Werder Bremen and Horst Steffen, opposition analysis has not been a strong point in the Bundesliga so far this season.

Often, their reads on their next opponent have not been ideal, and their game plans struggled to find the right adjustments to the playstyle of the opposing team while still holding their own values in high regard.

Thanks to the cancellation of their game against Hoffenheim on Saturday, Werder had a head start over Borussia Dortmund, allowing them to start the analysis sooner, and Steffen did not have to deal with recovery after an intense game, as Kovač did.

This game, Werder were very well prepared and had a clear plan to hurt Dortmund, and they executed it really well in the first phase, resulting in a lot of problems for their opponent.