Bundesliga 2020/21: Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke – tactical analysis

Borussia Dortmund put on an impressively dominant display in the first Revierderby of the season, coming out as 3-0 victors over Schalke in this Bundesliga fixture. Having lost 3-1 to Lazio in the Champions League a matter of days beforehand, Borussia Dortmund dusted themselves off, changed a few personnel and their formation, and put on an outstanding performance where they never looked like losing their firm grip on the game. Manuel Akanji and Mats Hummels scored either side of a superb finish from Erling Haaland, whilst the home side registered 75% of possession to boot.

This tactical analysis will break down the tactics of the game focusing on Dortmund’s strengths, whilst also giving an analysis of Schalke’s weaknesses.

Line-ups

Lucien Favre has experimented with his starting XI this season, and this continued in this fixture. Opting for a 4-2-3-1, a formation he had played with in pre-season, Favre moved his side away from their well known 3-4-3, and both Raphael Guerreiro and Thomas Meunier played in slightly more disciplined roles either side of Hummels and Akanji in the backline. Thomas Delaney was pushed forward into midfield where he partnered Mahmoud Dahoud in a double pivot, with Julian Brandt in the 10. Gio Reyna and Jadon Sancho occupied the wings whilst Erling Haaland played as the lone centre-forward. 

As for Schalke, they played with a back five to deal with Dortmund’s front three, as they had done in their 4-0 loss to Leipzig at the beginning of the month (who also played a 4-2-3-1). Malick Thaw, Salif Sane, and Matija Nastasic made up the central three with Kilian Ledweig and Bastian Oczipka either side of them. In midfield, Omar Mascarell anchored a midfield three with Amine Harit and Nabil Bentaleb either side of him, whilst Rabbi Matondo and Goncalo Paciencia were partnered up front

Schalke’s initial defensive shape

With their back five, Schalke looked to use the wing-backs to press Dortmund in the wide areas, whilst the front two of Matondo and Paciencia were instructed to sit narrow and close to the midfield three.

We can see this in the image below as Ludewig pushes up far and wide to press Raphael Guerreiro, whilst out of shot, the rest of Schalke’s back five squeezed across accordingly.