Nico Schlotterbeck nominated for Bundesliga Player of the Month | OneFootball

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Borussia Dortmund suffered a clear 4-0 (1-0) defeat away to FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg.<\/p>\n","title":"Teaser Text","multiValue":false,"value":"Borussia Dortmund suffered a clear 4-0 (1-0) defeat away to FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg.","exportedType":"text/html"},"scheduledPush":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"boolean","name":"scheduledPush","title":"Scheduled Push Notification?","multiValue":false,"value":false,"exportedType":"boolean"},"disableAdsOnNewsPage":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"boolean","name":"disableAdsOnNewsPage","title":"Disable Ads on News Page","multiValue":false,"value":false,"exportedType":"boolean"},"text":{"multiLine":true,"dataType":"string","name":"text","html":"

The 49,472 spectators at the sold-out Estadi Olímpic, which was built in 1929, saw the Catalans make a sparkling start and take a deserved lead through Raphinha in the 25th minute. BVB sensed a possible equaliser on several occasions towards the end of the first period but conceded the second goal two minutes after the restart following a strong move involving Yamal and Raphinha that was finished off by Lewandowski. Then things went from bad to worse: Lewandowski (68) and Yamal (77) added goals to inflict a bitter margin of defeat.<\/p>\n

The scenario:<\/b>  
\nSecond versus 10th from the league phase. Barcelona had suffered only one defeat \u2013 a 2-1 loss in Monaco in the opening round \u2013 and were unbeaten in nine matches in the competition in the current campaign (eight wins and one draw). BVB had won five of their previous seven away games in the UEFA Champions League but were still huge underdogs against the Catalans.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Personnel matters: 
\n <\/b>Niko Kovac had to replace three key players in Nico Schlotterbeck (meniscus injury), Marcel Sabitzer (knee injury) and the suspended Pascal Groß. Four days after the 4-1 victory in Freiburg, Felix Nmecha and Serhou Guirassy came into the team in place of Groß and Daniel Svensson (bench).<\/p>\n

Tactics:  <\/b>
\nFC Barcelona approached the game with an extremely high defensive line that was positioned close to the halfway line. The team took to the pitch in a 4-2-3-1 formation, played the offside trap at the back and attacked with force. The full-backs made the pitch wide and the central midfielders pushed high up. After two matches with a back three, BVB returned to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Nmecha (centre-left) and Brandt forming the central defensive midfield duo in front of the defence, while Gittens, Chukwuemeka and Adeyemi (left) lined up in attacking midfield and ensured plenty of tempo on the flanks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The match & analysis:
\n<\/b>Borussia, who were wearing all-yellow strips, were not able to make use of this tempo until the closing stages of the first period. Barcelona played tight to their man for 30 minutes, winning the ball and launching a real onslaught at the outset in particular, with Kobel making stunning saves against Yamal (5) and Lewandowski (7) to deny an early opener. BVB subsequently managed to calm things down somewhat but were still overly hectic going forward. By the third pass at the latest, the ball had been lost again. Once Bensebaini started to receive more help from Adeyemi, the threat posed by Yamal was contained. But instead, BVB conceded a goal from a crossed free-kick: Martinez headed the ball across goal from the left and Cubarsi made contact on the edge of the six-yard box; Kobel just about got to it but Raphinha slid in to slot it over the line (25).<\/p>\n

Borussia started to create chances themselves towards the end of the first period: Chukwuemeka centred the ball to Guirassy in the 36th minute, who wanted to meet it on the volley from a central position around 10 metres out but didn't connect with the ball properly. Four minutes later, Chukwuemeka's attempt was blocked in a centre-left position in the box and Gittens followed up, but goalkeeper Szczesny was on hand. And in stoppage time Guirassy missed Adeyemi's cross from the left, before striking the ball into the side-netting a short while later after being set up well by Chukwuemeka.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Beier came on for Adeyemi, who was a booking away from a suspension, after the break. Only seconds after the restart Gittens, who was now operating on the left flank, shot from 18 metres out and only just missed the far post. Barca struck again almost immediately: Yamal was afforded some space on the right wing and delivered a high cross from the corner of the box towards the left post, where Raphinha directed a looping header from level with the byline over Kobel and towards the right post for the unchallenged Lewandowski to head home for 2-0 (48). An underhit clearance presented Fermin with the chance to make it 3-0 on 63 minutes but he fired inches wide of the bottom left corner.<\/p>\n

Barcelona had played with the tempo during this period, slowing it down considerably, but retained complete control thanks to their strong positional play. Shortly afterwards, Lewandowski added a third goal following a counter-attack. Fermin had plenty of space after exchanging passes with Yamal and played the ball from the right of the penalty area into the centre, where Lewandowski came running in and struck a powerful, first-time effort. Kobel did get to the thumping strike with his hand but was unable to keep it out (68). A misplaced pass in their own half led to the fourth goal. Raphinha then had a great deal of space on the left wing and - in a three-on-one situation - passed over to the right for the onrushing Yamal (Bensebaini almost managed to close him down), who struck the ball with perfect technique from the metres out and slotted it precisely inside the left post. Reyna (84) \u2013 a strong save from Szczesny \u2013 and Brandt (88) went close to scoring, before Beier's goal was disallowed for offside (89). There was to be no consolation goal for Borussia.<\/p>\n

Outlook:  
\n <\/b>The return fixture at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK will take place at 21:00 CEST on Tuesday next week. Prior to that, BVB will travel away to FC Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday (kick-off at 18:30 CEST).<\/p>\n

Boris Rupert reporting from Barcelona<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Teams & goals<\/h2>\n

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final First Leg
\n Wednesday 9 April 2025, 21:00 CEST
\n FC BARCELONA 4-0 (1-0) BORUSSIA DORTMUND<\/b><\/p>\n

FC Barcelona:<\/b> Szczesny \u2013 Koundé, Cubarsi, Martinez (Araujo, 81), Balde \u2013 de Jong \u2013 Pedri (Eric, 81), Fermin (Gavi, 74) \u2013 Yamal (Fati, 86), Lewandowski (Ferran Torres, 81), Raphinha
\nBor. Dortmund: <\/b>Kobel \u2013 Ryerson (Süle, 79), Can, Anton, Bensebaini \u2013 Brandt, Nmecha (Özcan, 68) \u2013 Gittens (Duranville, 79), Chukwuemeka (Reyna, 68), Adeyemi (Beier, 46) \u2013 Guirassy
\nSubstitutes:<\/b> Pena, Kochen; Christensen, Fort, Martin, Torre, Pau \u2013 Meyer, Lotka; Wätjen, Kabar, Couto, Svensson
\n Goals:<\/b> 1-0 Raphinha (Cubarsi, 25), 2-0 Lewandowski (Raphinha, 48), 3-0 Lewandowski (Fermin, 68), 4-0 Yamal (Raphinha, 77)
\nCorners:<\/b> 4-7 (4-1 at half-time), chance ratio:<\/b> 10-4 (4-2)
\nReferee:<\/b> Eskas (Norway), yellow cards:<\/b> Adeyemi, Guirassy
\nAttendance:<\/b> 49,472 (sold-out), weather:<\/b> dry, 15 degrees<\/p>\n","title":"Text","multiValue":false,"value":"

The 49,472 spectators at the sold-out Estadi Olímpic, which was built in 1929, saw the Catalans make a sparkling start and take a deserved lead through Raphinha in the 25th minute. BVB sensed a possible equaliser on several occasions towards the end of the first period but conceded the second goal two minutes after the restart following a strong move involving Yamal and Raphinha that was finished off by Lewandowski. Then things went from bad to worse: Lewandowski (68) and Yamal (77) added goals to inflict a bitter margin of defeat.<\/p>\n

The scenario:<\/b>  
\nSecond versus 10th from the league phase. Barcelona had suffered only one defeat \u2013 a 2-1 loss in Monaco in the opening round \u2013 and were unbeaten in nine matches in the competition in the current campaign (eight wins and one draw). BVB had won five of their previous seven away games in the UEFA Champions League but were still huge underdogs against the Catalans.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Personnel matters: 
\n <\/b>Niko Kovac had to replace three key players in Nico Schlotterbeck (meniscus injury), Marcel Sabitzer (knee injury) and the suspended Pascal Groß. Four days after the 4-1 victory in Freiburg, Felix Nmecha and Serhou Guirassy came into the team in place of Groß and Daniel Svensson (bench).<\/p>\n

Tactics:  <\/b>
\nFC Barcelona approached the game with an extremely high defensive line that was positioned close to the halfway line. The team took to the pitch in a 4-2-3-1 formation, played the offside trap at the back and attacked with force. The full-backs made the pitch wide and the central midfielders pushed high up. After two matches with a back three, BVB returned to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Nmecha (centre-left) and Brandt forming the central defensive midfield duo in front of the defence, while Gittens, Chukwuemeka and Adeyemi (left) lined up in attacking midfield and ensured plenty of tempo on the flanks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The match & analysis:
\n<\/b>Borussia, who were wearing all-yellow strips, were not able to make use of this tempo until the closing stages of the first period. Barcelona played tight to their man for 30 minutes, winning the ball and launching a real onslaught at the outset in particular, with Kobel making stunning saves against Yamal (5) and Lewandowski (7) to deny an early opener. BVB subsequently managed to calm things down somewhat but were still overly hectic going forward. By the third pass at the latest, the ball had been lost again. Once Bensebaini started to receive more help from Adeyemi, the threat posed by Yamal was contained. But instead, BVB conceded a goal from a crossed free-kick: Martinez headed the ball across goal from the left and Cubarsi made contact on the edge of the six-yard box; Kobel just about got to it but Raphinha slid in to slot it over the line (25).<\/p>\n

Borussia started to create chances themselves towards the end of the first period: Chukwuemeka centred the ball to Guirassy in the 36th minute, who wanted to meet it on the volley from a central position around 10 metres out but didn't connect with the ball properly. Four minutes later, Chukwuemeka's attempt was blocked in a centre-left position in the box and Gittens followed up, but goalkeeper Szczesny was on hand. And in stoppage time Guirassy missed Adeyemi's cross from the left, before striking the ball into the side-netting a short while later after being set up well by Chukwuemeka.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Beier came on for Adeyemi, who was a booking away from a suspension, after the break. Only seconds after the restart Gittens, who was now operating on the left flank, shot from 18 metres out and only just missed the far post. Barca struck again almost immediately: Yamal was afforded some space on the right wing and delivered a high cross from the corner of the box towards the left post, where Raphinha directed a looping header from level with the byline over Kobel and towards the right post for the unchallenged Lewandowski to head home for 2-0 (48). An underhit clearance presented Fermin with the chance to make it 3-0 on 63 minutes but he fired inches wide of the bottom left corner.<\/p>\n

Barcelona had played with the tempo during this period, slowing it down considerably, but retained complete control thanks to their strong positional play. Shortly afterwards, Lewandowski added a third goal following a counter-attack. Fermin had plenty of space after exchanging passes with Yamal and played the ball from the right of the penalty area into the centre, where Lewandowski came running in and struck a powerful, first-time effort. Kobel did get to the thumping strike with his hand but was unable to keep it out (68). A misplaced pass in their own half led to the fourth goal. Raphinha then had a great deal of space on the left wing and - in a three-on-one situation - passed over to the right for the onrushing Yamal (Bensebaini almost managed to close him down), who struck the ball with perfect technique from the metres out and slotted it precisely inside the left post. Reyna (84) \u2013 a strong save from Szczesny \u2013 and Brandt (88) went close to scoring, before Beier's goal was disallowed for offside (89). There was to be no consolation goal for Borussia.<\/p>\n

Outlook:  
\n <\/b>The return fixture at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK will take place at 21:00 CEST on Tuesday next week. Prior to that, BVB will travel away to FC Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday (kick-off at 18:30 CEST).<\/p>\n

Boris Rupert reporting from Barcelona<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Teams & goals<\/h2>\n

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final First Leg
\n Wednesday 9 April 2025, 21:00 CEST
\n FC BARCELONA 4-0 (1-0) BORUSSIA DORTMUND<\/b><\/p>\n

FC Barcelona:<\/b> Szczesny \u2013 Koundé, Cubarsi, Martinez (Araujo, 81), Balde \u2013 de Jong \u2013 Pedri (Eric, 81), Fermin (Gavi, 74) \u2013 Yamal (Fati, 86), Lewandowski (Ferran Torres, 81), Raphinha
\nBor. Dortmund: <\/b>Kobel \u2013 Ryerson (Süle, 79), Can, Anton, Bensebaini \u2013 Brandt, Nmecha (Özcan, 68) \u2013 Gittens (Duranville, 79), Chukwuemeka (Reyna, 68), Adeyemi (Beier, 46) \u2013 Guirassy
\nSubstitutes:<\/b> Pena, Kochen; Christensen, Fort, Martin, Torre, Pau \u2013 Meyer, Lotka; Wätjen, Kabar, Couto, Svensson
\n Goals:<\/b> 1-0 Raphinha (Cubarsi, 25), 2-0 Lewandowski (Raphinha, 48), 3-0 Lewandowski (Fermin, 68), 4-0 Yamal (Raphinha, 77)
\nCorners:<\/b> 4-7 (4-1 at half-time), chance ratio:<\/b> 10-4 (4-2)
\nReferee:<\/b> Eskas (Norway), yellow cards:<\/b> Adeyemi, Guirassy
\nAttendance:<\/b> 49,472 (sold-out), weather:<\/b> dry, 15 degrees<\/p>\n","exportedType":"text/html"},"id":"editable-4e754267a6","prio":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"boolean","name":"prio","title":"Prio (Clubplatform)","multiValue":false,"value":true,"exportedType":"boolean"},"headline":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"string","name":"headline","title":"Headline","multiValue":false,"value":"Bitter 4-0 first-leg defeat for Borussia","exportedType":"text/plain"},"matchId":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"string","name":"matchId","title":"match id","multiValue":false,"exportedType":"text/plain"},"data-layer":"{\"editable-4e754267a6\":{\"@type\":\"/apps/bvbweb/components/newssliderelements/editable\",\"linkUrl\":\"https://www.bvb.de/de/en/news/news-overview/news.html/2025/4/9/Bitter-4-0-first-leg-defeat-for-Borussia.html\"}}","author":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"string","name":"author","title":"Author","multiValue":false,"exportedType":"text/plain"},"teaserType":"relatedContent","match":{"multiLine":true,"dataType":"content-fragment","name":"match","title":"Related Match","multiValue":false,"exportedType":"text/plain"},"alt":"72M_Barcelona.jpg","externalId":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"string","name":"externalId","title":"External ID (Clubplatform)","multiValue":false,"value":"888401495","exportedType":"text/plain"},"displayOnHome":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"boolean","name":"displayOnHome","title":"Display in news wall on homepage","multiValue":false,"value":true,"exportedType":"boolean"},"url":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"string","name":"url","title":"Vanity URL (LEAVE EMPTY FOR AUTOMATIC VANITY URL. DO NOT EDIT EXISTING VALUES!)","multiValue":false,"value":"2025/4/9/Bitter-4-0-first-leg-defeat-for-Borussia","exportedType":"text/plain"},"push":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"boolean","name":"push","title":"Push (Clubplatform)","multiValue":false,"value":true,"exportedType":"boolean"},"tags":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"string","name":"tags","title":"Tags","multiValue":true,"exportedType":"text/plain"},"scheduledPushTime":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"calendar","name":"scheduledPushTime","title":"Scheduled Push Date and Time","multiValue":false,"exportedType":"calendar"},"mainCategory":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"string","name":"mainCategory","title":"News Type","multiValue":true,"value":["bvbweb:news/category/report"],"exportedType":"text/plain"},"appExportSuccess":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"boolean","name":"appExportSuccess","title":"App Export Successful (Clubplatform)","multiValue":false,"value":true,"exportedType":"boolean"},"temporaryAppImage":{"multiLine":false,"dataType":"string","name":"temporaryAppImage","title":"App Image","multiValue":true,"value":["/content/dam/bvbweb/en/news/profis/2025/04/09/ucl-spielbericht/72A_Barcelona.jpg"],"exportedType":"text/plain"}}