Bundesliga: Stuttgart vs Dortmund

We’re at MHP Arena, where VFB Stuttgart face Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund are in second place while Stuttgart are in third place with an eight point gap between them. As they are two in-form sides, this game promises to be a tasty encounter. The main player for VFB is Denis Undav while Maximillian Mittlestadt has been capped for Germany. Serhou Guirassy starts for Dortmund against his former team. The reverse match at Signal Iduna Park ended 3-3. We hope for another banger in this match.

The game in the first five minutes was quite even, with Dortmund without the ball happy to drop into a 3-5-2 formation. Stuttgart also form a back 3 when building up from the back. Sometimes, they form a back four. The Stuttgart number 10, Chris Fuhrich has been lively down the left hand side. He also had a long range strike which was comfortably dealt with by Kobel. VFB have also been known for their pressing and it isn’t any different in this matchup, as Carney Chukwuemeka found out when trying to drive through their midfield.

The pressure for VFB almost led to a goal as Undav and Fuhrich had chances that could have led to a goal if not for Gregor Kobel’s intervention. The white and red team also are trying to make the most of set pieces and have created chances from these situations. In the first twenty-five minutes, it’s been Stuttgart’s press versus Dortmund’s play, with Stuttgart going with crosses into the box at any opportunity and hoping that their aerial prowess would lead to a goal.

The first yellow card was shown to former Chelsea player Carney Chukwuemeka. The Stuttgart build up is such that the midfield is bypassed. It reminds me of Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton, who sometimes goes with a 3-1-6 or even a 3-0-7 in the game against Man City where Matt O’Riley scored the winning goal. In the thirty-fourth minute, Fuhrich had a free-kick from close range but he put it over the bar.

In this first half, Stuttgart are likely the favourites for this game as they win the ball after every 7.7 seconds. They were all over the Dortmund team as they barely let them breathe. It’s been their identity throughout the game, and throughout the season as they have won the ball for about 12 seconds in the Bundesliga fixtures.

Fuhrich has been the best player of both teams as when he has the ball, he looks like he wants to make things happen. Denis Undav has been good with the hold-up play although he hasn’t touched the ball as much as he would have liked, with 16 touches and 1 shot. Dortmund have only had 33% of the ball. Anyways Undav only needs one chance to score a goal as he has had 18 so far in the league, second to only Harry Kane with 31 goals.

Studying the positions, Stuttgart have mainly used the left wing as Fuhrich and Mittlestadt have been lively down that side. They also use a 3-4-3 in contrast to Dortmund’s 3-5-2.

Dortmund have started the second half better than they did the first, with Niko Kovac definitely telling the team to keep more possession of the ball. VFB then grew into the game, owing also to their wing play on the right side due to former Burnley wing-back Assignon.

Stuttgart at times press with a 4-2-1-3 which makes it easier for them to press and win the ball back in advantageous positions. There haven’t been too many chances in this game as it is difficult to predict where the goal is coming from. In terms of tactics, it has been sort of like a chess match, with the pressing and possession interchanging between the two teams. It seems that a moment of brilliance is what will decide this game, if this game is to have a winner.

And the chance nearly came as Nubel set his team on a counter attack but nothing came out from it. If any team were to get a goal, I would go with Stuttgart, but I think this game would end up being a bore draw.

Schwabenmetropole were churning out more chances in the latter stages of the game with Stiller taking his strike wide of the mark. Another shot by Jamie Leveling was also off target.

The game was tactically astute, but as I have mentioned before, football is a game of moments and neither of these teams seized theirs. Although the football was nice to watch, there were barely any chances in the game that were noteworthy. Even though Stuttgart have been the livelier of the two teams, I just don’t think that they have done enough in my opinion in the final third to merit three points from the game.

Anyways, I was wrong. Dortmund took the lead in the ninety-fourth minute due to a moment of genius from Karim Adeyemi as he took the ball and slotted it to Nubel’s left hand corner. Julian Brandt scored the second goal which made it game over to the team in yellow. I still stick with my previous opinion that this game didn’t deserve to end like this and that 0-0 was a fair result. However, commiserations to VFB Stuttgart as they summed up what it is not to take your chances and then have the other team take theirs. Yes, it’s not a fair result, but football can be a very cruel game.

FULL TIME!!! 2-0 Dortmund!

It’s eleven points between Stuttgart and Dortmund. It’s eleven points between Dortmund and Bayern, so there is likely to be a slip-up, but Dortmund have likely made second place their own. Stuttgart may have been the better team in the ninety but didn’t create too many chances and the half-chances they got they didn’t take.