The DFB-Pokal has its own set of rules, which is a very popular saying in Germany.
While in the Bundesliga, only one or two teams typically compete for the championship, the German Cup has been open to everybody over the last couple of years, with four different teams winning the final in Berlin in the previous five years.
In the second round, we rarely get an absolute top game simply because many teams from the 2. Bundesliga and even 3. Liga are still in the competition, but the draw spat out some very interesting games this season.
The most interesting game in the second round this year was Eintracht Frankfurt against Borussia Dortmund.
Two top teams in the Bundesliga, Frankfurt won the DFB Pokal in 2018, while Borussia Dortmund won in 2021.
As a result, we were able to witness the matchup of two of the better teams in the competition over the last couple of years.
With both teams competing in the UEFA Champions League, the load on the players is becoming increasingly high at this time of year.
Therefore, the game was more of a tough-fought battle than a display of incredible football, but it was still the most interesting game of this round.
In the end, Niko Kovač and Borussia Dortmund beat Dino Topmöller’s Eintracht Frankfurt team in a penalty shootout, reaching the Round of 16 in the competition and keeping their title hopes for the season alive.
In this tactical analysis, we will examine the tactics employed by Kovač and Toppmöller, the game’s unfolding, the challenges faced by both teams in playing fluid football, and how Borussia Dortmund managed to overcome Frankfurt.
Frankfurt Attempts To Stop Dortmund
Going into the game, Borussia Dortmund were given a better chance to win by pretty much everyone.
Frankfurt have had some troubles over the last couple of weeks after a great start to the season.
Therefore, it was no surprise that Kovač’s men dominated possession from the start, and Frankfurt fell back into the second pressing line rather often.
Frankfurt employed a midfield press and attempted to prevent Dortmund from advancing into the final third, capitalizing on their struggles with ball security while building up against them.
Toppmöller’s team overall looks better in counterattacking situations than when they have to dominate possession against weaker competition, so it was no surprise at all that they were actually playing the role of the underdog on Tuesday, even though they played at home.
Niko Kovač brought a 3-4-2-1 formation to BVB and has been very successful with it during his tenure there.
One reason he uses this formation is that it easily shifts into a 3-2-5 shape when in possession.
Dortmund pushed their two wing-backs up the pitch into the attacking line, providing width and presence against Toppmöller’s backline.
The centre-backs are rather wide, with the two outside centre-backs being wide and Waldemar Anton in the centre holding his position.
The double pivot was usually relatively narrow, but it dropped outwards, near-sided, often to escape the coverage shadows of the three Frankfurt attackers.
Toppmöller’s solution to defend Dortmund was relatively simple: mirror what their opponent was doing.
His team was defending in a 5-2-3 shape, playing man-to-man coverage everywhere on the pitch, which prevented Dortmund from creating numerical advantages anywhere as they began to build up.
Frankfurt used their three attackers in a rather narrow shape to prevent passes into the midfield from the centre-backs, and it worked rather well; Dortmund had to play through the wings a lot.
Anton tried to answer that by dribbling at the gap between the attackers and forcing them to retreat, but Toppmöller prepared his men well, and they only opened up the passes towards the outside centre-backs.
From then on, Frankfurt tried to press actively for the first time; the outward pass acted as the trigger for the left attacker in this case.
Frankfurt then tried to close off the near side, with the near-sided midfielder pressing forward onto the Dortmund midfielder and the far-sided midfielder covering the space behind him.
The latter helped out with eventual long balls towards the striker, Maximilian Beier.
This worked especially well when Dortmund was not able to prepare their positional play early enough; in this case, they failed to drop one of their near-sided attacking players back with the right timing in this situation.
This led to them having to play the pass towards their wing-back Julian Ryerson here, and the Norwegian international is now backed up against the sideline.
Frankfurt was now able to get aggressive in its man-marking system; the wing-back was able to press forward onto Ryerson, the near-sided centre-backs could press forward onto Karim Adeyemi in the half-space, and the other near-sided players could cut off the pass towards the centre.
The only way out of this is Adeyemi’s runi.
Still, the angle for Ryerson to make the pass to find the space behind the defensive line is just not there, and Frankfurt are able to intercept it, ending up with their first successful action in their midfield press.
Dortmund Press Vs Frankfurt
While Toppmöller’s ideas were good, and Frankfurt quickly controlled Dortmund, Kovač’s team was the better team for the majority of the first half.
They won more duels and found solutions in the 1-v-1 situations that Frankfurt provoked all over the pitch, which helped them get into this game really well.
Kovač also had his men very well prepared; they found solutions with the ball often and, with good vertical combinations, progressed to the midfield rather easily at the start of the game.
They achieved this by exploiting a single interesting aspect in Toppmöller’s handling of the man marking for his tea; Dortmund obviously identified this in their opposition analysis.
While Frankfurt often fell back into a midfield press in this game, they still tried to get forward into the first pressing line.
Dortmund’s centre-backs struggled when moving backwards and often had to find solutions in the passing game, probably trying to force long balls.
The moment Dortmund played a backwards pass towards their backline, Frankfurt always pounced on the opportunity to press forward.
Their three attackers and midfielders quickly moved forward, pressing man-to-man against the backline and the midfielders, with the Dortmund attackers in a very advanced position.
The problem was that their backline was rather inactive and did not put in enough effort to push forward, allowing Dortmund to find solutions too often.
Frankfurt’s first problem was that Dortmund showed good individual class, won the 1-v-1 battles, and stayed on the ball.
However, the other problem was self-inflicted, and Dortmund had a very easy solution to establish good combinations through the half-spaces.
Kovač dropped one attacking midfielder back into the midfield to create a numerical advantage there.
Julian Brandt and Adeyemi often got out of the attacking line in the half-space.
Usually, Frankfurt’s outside centre-back was their marker.
Still, Toppmöller did not want his centre-backs to defend forward into the midfield because of the threat of runs behind the backline posed by the two quick midfielders, Marcel Sabitzer and Felix Nmecha.
Instead, the centre-back switched to covering the wing-back on the wing, and the wing-back pushed inwards to press the player in the half-space, as shown in the picture above.
This forced the Frankfurt defenders to switch assignments perfectly every time, and the timing had to be precise in every situation.
Dortmund answered that by simply forming a diamond on the wing, dropping their own wing-back as well.
Then, with a very small delay, Adeyemi dropped back too.
Now, the entire marking system of Toppmöller breaks apart.
The full-back needs to cover two players, and he can’t even see Adeyemi behind him.
As we can see in the picture, now both Ryerson and Adeyemi are wide open, and Dortmund can find vertical passes into the midfield.
They then dropped the near-sided midfielder further outside, allowing Adeyemi to play a simple lay-off and advance the ball.
Then Ryerson can make a run behind the backline, and with Arthur Theate being forced to step up as well, the pass to Beier in the central attacking position gets open, too.
Dortmund found multiple good vertical combinations to start the game, but then struggled to create opportunities in the final third.
Frankfurt often managed to recover somehow after bad passes or with high intensity.
To add insult to injury, Dortmund defended two long balls poorly.
After Jonas Svensson failed to clear the ball away, their two former players, Mario Götze and Ansgar Knauff, punished them with an excellent through-ball and finish, giving Frankfurt an early lead.
This led to a rather uninteresting rest of the first half.
Frankfurt defended with high intensity.
Dortmund managed to get into the final third but failed to create shots, and Frankfurt took the lead into the half.
Switch To Win
Dortmund’s first-half performance was hindered by their attempts to finish off their attacks quickly before Frankfurt could drop back into a deep block.
However, Dortmund often got too hasty, which resulted in their attacks not being precise enough.
Niko Kovač found a solution to that problem during halftime; he told the players to be a bit more patient in the final third and use the same tactic Frankfurt employed in their marking in the final third as they did in the build-up.
Just after the half, Beier was able to secure possession after a long ball for Dortmund, and instead of overforcing the attack here, Svensson now made the smart decision.
Beier once again offered the run behind the backline, but with him running towards the corner and only three Dortmund players being near the ball, Svensson plays a pass to his midfielder.
Dortmund now held onto the ball for a couple of seconds, allowing more players to move forward, creating a situation against Frankfurt’s block.
Kovač also overloaded the near side in these situations now, moving multiple players near the ball, which forced the two Frankfurt midfielders to shift towards the ball, leaving the far side vulnerable.
Additionally, Kovač had Adeyemi push inwards here as well, pushing the far-sided wing-back into the box too, completely opening up the far side of the field now.
Toppmöller’s attacker did not track well in these situations, so the far-sided wingback always found himself in acres of space.
Dortmund now found switches against the block, freeing up their players on the wing and creating opportunities for crosses.
Adeyemi now moved outwards, dragging the near-sided centre-back outwards, which allowed Ryerson to play a very sharp cross into the box.
The overloaded far side allowed for diagonal runs into the box, creating so much chaos that Brandt was wide open at the far-sided post, finishing off the cross in this situation.
Frankfurt adjusted quickly, however, and the attackers were forced to track back by their coach.
In the end, until the final ten minutes of the game, there were no real highlights.
Dortmund held onto the ball, Frankfurt defended well, and they neutralised each other with the tactical measures showcased in this article.
Frankfurt had better subs, and Can Uzun had two good opportunities, but the draw was a fair result after 90 minutes.
The intense last couple of weeks showed in extra time, and neither team had enough power left to find a lucky punch to win.
In the penalty shootout, Dortmund demonstrated greater composure compared to the home team.
Conclusion
While the game may not have been the most exciting to watch, both teams showcased why they are regarded as very good teams in Germany, effectively highlighting their strengths on the pitch.
Dino Toppmöller’s side pressed and defended well, but they could not hold onto their early lead because of their struggles with defending in the half-spaces.
Niko Kovač and his men’s game might not have been perfect, but they looked sharp and well-prepared.
In the end, they obviously took a win away at Frankfurt after an intense couple of weeks.
