Heading into this game against Fortuna Düsseldorf, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund’s advantage at the top had been scaled back to six points after Borussia Mönchengladbach won their earlier kick-off.
With the pressure on to extend it back to nine, Dortmund seemed to fall apart. In what should have been a routine three-points, considering the form of both sides, Lucien Favres Dortmund lost the match 2-1 after a tactical masterclass from Fortuna boss Friedhelm Funkel.
In this tactical analysis, Ill look at the way Funkel, spotting a weakness in Dortmund’s thus far fairly solid defence, ruthlessly exploited it throughout the match, causing problems and taking all three points from an unbeaten Dortmund side.
Line ups
With one eye on his upcoming top of the table clash, Favre decided to rest some of his key players. Benched were Achraf Hakimi, Jadon Sancho, Raphaël Guerreiro and Paco Alcácer to be replaced by Marcel Schmelzer, Christian Pulisic, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Mario Götze respectively.
Funkel made considerable changes to his side after their 2-0 victory over Freiburg, most notably including the pacey Dodi Lukebakio up top in a 4-2-3-1, as opposed to the 4-4-2 of their last outing where he entered as a late substitute.
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