Bundesliga 2019/20: Borussia Dortmund vs Hoffenheim – tactical analysis

This weekend hosted the final round of Bundesliga fixtures which saw Hoffenheim travel to the Signal Iduna Park to take on Borussia Dortmund. Going into the game, Hoffenheim were currently sitting in 7^th place, and needed to win against Borussia Dortmund and hope that Vfl Wolfsburg lost in their home game against Bayern Munich to guarantee them a place in the UEFA Europa League next season.

Dortmund, on the other hand, were going into the game having already cemented their place in next seasons UEFA Champions League competition by finishing in 2^nd place, regardless of the result in this game. It was the away side that clearly proved they are the right fit for European football next season, having come to Dortmund with a new bout of confidence under interim boss Matthias Kaltenbach as they played Dortmund off the park.

In this tactical analysis, we will look at Hoffenheims build-up play which allowed them to progress through the thirds successfully, as well as highlighting Dortmund’s lack of quality in possession. The analysis will conclude by examining Dortmund’s defensive issues in their back three that saw the game finish 4-0 in favour of Hoffenheim.

Lineups

For Dortmund’s last home game of the season, Lucien Favre set out his side in a 3-4-3 formation and made several changes from their last game which was a win at RB Leipzig. Roman Bürki started in goal with a back three of Mats Hummels, Leonardo Balerdi and Łukasz Piszczek. Dortmund’s midfield four consisted of Raphaël Guerreiro as the left-sided attacking full-back, Axel Witsel and Julian Brandt in the centre and Mateu Morey as the right-sided attacking full-back. Their front three was Giovanni Reyna, Erling Braut Håland and Thorgan Hazard.

As for Hoffenheim, Matthias Kaltenbach set up his side in a 3-5-2, a formation that Hoffenheim are very used to playing this season. Oliver Baumann started in goal, with a back three consisting of Stefan Posch, Florian Grillitsch and Benjamin Hübner. Their holding midfielder of the midfield five was Diadie Samassékou, with Andrej Kramarić and Sebastian Rudy playing just in front. Robert Skov and Pavel Kadeřábek acted as the attacking wing-backs, with Ihlas Bebou and Moanes Dabour as the two strikers.

Hoffenheim’s build-up play to progress forwards

Hoffenheim entered this game looking to confirm their places in the UEFA Europa League and continue their winning form under their interim boss Katterbach. Throughout the game, they managed to build up the play using both the central and wide areas and were very successful when doing so. When they built the play in the central area, they would break the Dortmund lines with penetrative through passes. When Hoffenheim found themselves in the wide areas during their build-up, they would create overloads which allowed them to keep progressing forwards in these areas.