UEFA Champions League 2018/19: Borussia Dortmund vs Monaco

It’s been a disastrous week in Monaco as the team continued their bad form with by losing to Borussia Dortmund 0-3 down Wednesday evening. The Monegasques have no point after two games in the group stage of Champions League (losing to Atletico Madrid in the first round). And the worse news is that they have only one win in eight games for Ligue 1 too.

Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, has won four of their 6 matches in the Bundesliga, drawing two. The team has a better record in Europa too as it has the full package of points and is on the top of group A. Although going through Monaco wasn’t as easy as it looks. Their opponents created some very good opportunities, but few defensive mistakes were crucial for the outcome of the game.

But there is still something encouraging – both team’s youngsters pulled out great performances and it looks like the only thing missing for them is an experience.

There were a few players that had a huge impact on their team’s performance, so let’s take a closer look at what they did:

Benjamin Henrichs and Aleksandr Golovin

Most of the actions during the game were focused on the youngsters. Henrichs was doing perfectly good making runs on the left flank and his off the ball movement was often crucial on a counter-attack. His teammate Golovin on the other side made some perfectly measured through passes and created some chances. Unfortunately, it was all a waste as both strikers Falcao and Sylla couldn’t take advantage of these opportunities. Golovin’s creativity combined with Henrichs’ vision stood out and defined the tempo of Monaco’s game.

Although their passing accuracy percentage was not perfect, the youngsters deserve some credit as they managed to deliver 5 key passes combined.

Golovin made three of them and Henrichs added two, with two accurate crosses and two long balls. Benjamin impressed as he won 7/8 of his duels. He showed that he is equally important in every part of the pitch as he has both defensive and attacking contribution.

In here Golovin showed his strong decision-making and creativity. He had no option for a pass and was surrounded by three Borussia’s players. Just when you thought he is about to lose the possession of the ball he saw Sylla who can make a run towards the goal and sent a great through pass.

An identical situation here. Both him and Henrichs were covered by three players. Aleksandr had an option to make a run on the left but he saw that this would not be a successful attempt and once again made a perfect through pass to the edge of the box, after seeing that Sylla is in a good position to receive the ball.