Borussia Dortmund were handed only their second defeat of the current UEFA Champions League campaign away to Tottenham Hotspur after Daniel Svensson’s early red card left the Germans chasing the game for much of the evening.
From the off, Dortmund found themselves under fire in North London. However, Niko Kovač’s men initially managed to weather the early pressure.
A counter-attack following a Yan Couto free-kick up the other end saw Xavi almost teed up for a free effort on goal, but for Svensson’s intervention on the cross from Wilson Odobert, not long before Nico Schlotterbeck then snuffed out a good opportunity for Dominic Solanke.
However, Spurs managed to convert their early dominance into numerical advantage when, in the 14th minute, Odobert retrieved the second ball from a half-cleared Tottenham corner, before drilling it into the penalty area where Cristian Romero was waiting to smash home the opener.
However, things went from bad to worse for the visitors not long after. Following a VAR review, Svensson was shown a red card for a challenge on Odobert – his first dismissal in a Dortmund shirt.
Continuing to probe down Dortmund’s now vacant left-hand side, Odobert registered his second goal involvement of the evening in the 37th minute, fizzing a low cross in for Solanke, whose scuffed finish was enough to beat Gregor Kobel as it deflected in off the left-hand post to give the London outfit a 2-0 advantage at the interval.
The half-time introduction of Julian Ryerson and Emre Can helped stabilise Die Schwarzgelben’s defence; the former even nearly halving the deficit from a direct free-kick not five minutes into the second half.
But Spurs kept pushing for a third throughout the second 45. Substitute Randal Kolo Muani lost out in a one-on-one with Kobel, and Pedro Porro squandered a gilt-edged counterattacking opportunity late on, as the Dortmund defence held firm.
A late flurry of attacks from the visitors almost spelled a consolation. Schlotterbeck came the closest after getting his head on free-kick delivery from Ryerson, but there was to be no late joy for BVB.
Automatic qualification in jeopardy?
A night to forget for Dortmund left them one point adrift of the automatic qualification places, with teams around them also with a game in hand, and a tough encounter with last year’s finalists Inter Milan the last game in their league phase campaign. The maximum number of points they can now finish with is 14, two off the 16 which proved to be the magic number for automatic qualification in 2024/25.
What may worry BVB fans is the nature of their side’s uncharacteristically blunt performance going forward. Prior to kick-off, Kovač’s side boasted the joint-best attack in the competition with 19 goals (tied with PSG), but shooting their only blank of the campaign against Spurs saw them slip to joint-third.
Irksome it may be that the wait for a UCL victory over Spurs after their fifth attempt will have to continue, as will their negative record on English soil (losing eight of their last nine UEFA competition matches away from home against English teams).
However, Die Schwarzgelben may take some comfort in the fact that Spurs have kept clean sheets in all four of their home games in the UCL this term.
Captain Can remains optimistic, however, eyeing the clash with Milan as an opportunity to bounce back. Speaking with UEFA, the No.23 said: “It will be very tough. We have 11 points but we need more. It will be difficult but we play at home, and we know we can perform in big games there. I hope it will be better than today.”
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel (6) – Anton (5), Schlotterbeck (7), Bensebaini (5) – Couto (4), Bellingham (5), Nmecha (4), Svensson (3) – Adeyemi (5), Brandt (4) – Guirassy (4)
Others: Ryerson (5), Can (5), Silva (5), Chukwuemeka (4), Beier (4)
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario (5) – Porro (7), Romero (7), Danso (6), Udogie (7) – Gray (6), Bergvall (7) – Odobert (8), Simons (7), Spence (6) – Solanke (7)
Others: Byfield (5), Kolo Muani (4)
GGFN Man of the Match: Wilson Odobert (8)
Even before Svensson’s dismissal, Odobert was Spurs’ liveliest attacking outlet, consistently threatening down the right flank with his speed and accurate crosses.
The winger completed the most dribbles of any player on the pitch – 4/7 (via FotMob) – in addition to overperforming his xA of 0.93 with his two assists.
On the other hand, Schlotterbeck was Dortmund’s standout performer, producing an impressive defensive performance, particularly given his side’s man disadvantage. The German international won the most tackles of any player on the pitch (six) and came the closest of any BVB player to finding the net late in the second half.
GGFN | Sam Carey
