UEFA Champions League 2020/21: Club Brugge vs Borussia Dortmund – tactical analysis

Borussia Dortmund traveled to Bruges to take on Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The Dortmund attack swarmed all over Brugge early, scoring three in a span of 18 minutes, securing the three points in the process.

This tactical analysis will examine the tactics used by both Lucien Favre and Philippe Clement. The analysis will examine how Brugge struggled to effectively press, how Dortmund looked to exploit the left half-space, and how Meunier found space for himself to exploit on the right side.

Lineups

Clement sent his squad out in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Simon Mignolet in goal. Their centre-backs were Simon Deli and Odilon Kossounou with Eduard Sobol to the left and Clinton Mata to their right. Mats Rits worked between the two lines and had Hans Vanaken and Ruud Vormer in front of him. Krépin Diatta started as the left winger while Noa Lang started on the right side. Their striker for the evening was Emmanuel Dennis.

While the image reflects a 4-2-3-1, Lucien Favre’s Dortmund played more in a 4-3-3 with some movement from Julian Brandt occasionally dropping in centrally. Roman Bürki was the goalkeeper with Raphaël Guerreiro, Manuel Akanji, Axel Witsel, and Thomas Meunier (formerly of PSG) in front of him. Thomas Delaney, Mahmoud Dahoud, and Gio Reyna started in the centre of the park. Brandt, Erling Haaland, and Thorgan Hazard started as the front three.