Dortmund 2-1 Monterrey: Guirassy brace sends BVB to elite eight | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund faced CF Monterrey in the eighth and last match of the round of sixteen at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Both teams walked into this match knowing that whoever won would be playing against Real Madrid CF at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, with the kickoff for that match set for 16.00 (EDT) on Saturday - and that whoever lost would be heading home early.

Interestingly enough, for Borussia Dortmund, it was the first time that they have faced a team from Mexico in a competitive tournament their history, while for Monterrey, it was the first time that they have faced a team from Germany in a competitive tournament their history.

Monterrey kicked off the first half, with Germán Berterame doing the honours, but they would not be able to hang onto possession for too long. Just three minutes in, Daniel Svensson, who scored the winning goal in Dortmund's most recent match against Ulsan HD FC, sent a through ball in the gap between Óliver Torres and Jorge Rodríguez, eventually finding Karim Adeyemi on the right side of the Monterrey penalty area. Adeyemi could not control the ball, however, and Gerardo Arteaga was able to clear it with a sliding tackle to force an eventually unsuccessful corner.

At the six-minute mark, a Sergio Canales through ball found Berterame on the left side of the Dortmund penalty area, but Niklas Süle got in front of the Argentina-born Mexican international and deflected the ball away for a corner; the ensuing set piece was swung in by Canales, aiming for the far-post, but was headed away by Ramy Bensebaini.

Four minutes later, Monterrey won another corner; Canales played it short to his left, in the direction of Torres. Torres then passed to Nelson Deossa on the right side, just outside the penalty area, and Deossa's hard shot went straight into the hands of Gregor Köbel, who went down to deny him.

In the thirteenth minute, Bensebaini sent a ground pass into the edge of the Monterrey penalty area, where both Guirassy and Adeyemi were placed; Guirassy sent a backpass towards Adeyemi, and ran, onside, into the gap left by the defensive triangle of Stefan Medina, Jorge Rodríguez, and Sergio Ramos. Adeyemi then passed back to Guirassy, who now had only Esteban Andrada to beat; Andrada tried to close down the angle in that split-second, thinking that Guirassy would send the shot bottom-right, but Guirassy went for the bottom-left corner instead and thus gave Borussia Dortmund the lead.

They almost had a second shortly after, as just seconds after Monterrey kicked off once again, a failed Medina pass to Arteaga was intercepted by Pascal Groß. Guirassy and Adeyemi were both ahead of Groß at that moment, thus allowing Groß to deliver a short ground pass to Guirassy in the central area of the Monterrey half. Guirassy then found Adeyemi, who cut to the right side of the Monterrey penalty area; Adeyemi caused Andrada to slip before sending the ball past him, aiming for the bottom-centre area of the net, but Medina moved towards the goalmouth and did just enough to clear it away.

Jesús Corona had a close chance to level the score for Monterrey in the sixteenth minute, although it was not intended to be that way; it was supposed to be a cross to the centre of the Dortmund penalty area instead, where Canales was located, but it went off the goalpost and surprised Köbel in the process.

Monterrey shifted to a 3-5-2 in the twentieth minute, and four minutes later, having three defenders would become a problem as Dortmund started a quick counterattack that the back line could not manage; Julian Ryerson cleanly won possession from Gerardo Arteaga in the Dortmund half, and immediately found Adeyemi on the right side with a long ball. With Guirassy running into the centre of the Monterrey penalty area, Adeyemi passed to the Guinean international, who picked out the bottom-right corner to double Dortmund's lead.

In the twenty-eighth minute, a through ball to Deossa was halted by Jobe Bellingham, who clipped the left leg of the Colombian midfielder and thus went into the book. The yellow card, his second of the tournament, meant that if Dortmund advanced, he would miss the quarterfinal match against his brother Jude and Spanish champions Real Madrid CF on Saturday. A minute later, Deossa would power a left-footed shot at the top-right corner, but Köbel leapt to stop it with both hands.

Guirassy almost completed a hat-trick in the thirty-first minute, receiving a ground pass to the centre of the area from Felix Nmecha on the left side of the Monterrey half; Arteaga performed a sliding tackle in time, however, and forced Guirassy to slide in return, taking a shot that rolled just metres to the right of Andrada. Andrada then denied another chance from Guirassy at the goalmouth with his right leg three minutes later, set up by Groß with a left-footed ground pass on the right side of the Monterrey goal area.

In the forty-first minute, Andrada had possession of the ball in the goal area; he would send a long pass that bounced all the way to the left edge of the Dortmund penalty area, finding Corona. Under pressure from Süle, who bumped into him and thus threw him slightly off balance, Corona ran into the left side of the box and powered a shot at Köbel from a tough angle, which the Swiss goalkeeper deflected away with his right leg.

That would be the last notable play of the first half, as Dortmund led Monterrey by two goals to none going into the break, with just 35 % possession of the ball. Shots were 6-4 to Monterrey, 4-3 on target, with a 90 % pass accuracy for the Mexican side on 335 passes compared to 83 % on 174.

The first major chance of the second half would be the goal that cut the deficit in half, in the forty-eighth minute. Corona, on the left edge of the Dortmund penalty area, would cross the ball into the right side of the goal area, where Aguirre and Svensson were located; Aguirre got in front of Svensson and headed the ball to his left in the direction of Berterame, who powered a header of his own past Köbel and into the bottom-right corner.

In the fifty-seventh minute, Corona would run into the left side of the Dortmund box and received a pass back from Arteaga. However, Nmecha would run in and push Corona off his feet while kicking the ball away from danger. Corona then hit the back of Nmecha's legs, causing Facundo Tello to award BVB a free kick, despite calls from Corona for a penalty. Corona then went down after being lightly tapped by Süle on another chance a few minutes later, and also waved at the referee for a penalty in that situation, but Tello would dismiss his protest once again.

Eight minutes later, Monterrey would go on a counterattack; a Rodríguez longball would reach Corona in the centre of the Dortmund half, who immediately passed to Berterame. Berterame continued an unopposed run into the right side of the Dortmund penalty area, where he would take a right-footed shot past Köbel and into the bottom-left corner. He celebrated with a slide, but Tello would waive the goal off; this was because Berterame was offside when Corona made the pass.

In the seventy-ninth minute, a Canales cross, aimed towards the left side of the box where Arteaga was placed, would deflect off the back of his own teammate Rodríguez, and remained in the air for two seconds before landing to Torres. Torres would take a midair shot directed the top-right corner, but the ball would deflect off the backside of Süle before ultimately bouncing to the gloves of Köbel.

In the eighty-ninth minute, Fidel Ambríz, who entered the match as a substitute in place of Torres six minutes earlier, brought down Guirassy who was entering the Monterrey box at that moment. Guirassy wanted Tello to call a foul and force a free kick to Dortmund from a dangerous area; however, the Argentine official would not, and would instead give Andrada a drop ball.

That drop ball would turn into a quick Monterrey counter, with Aguirre launching a cross towards the centre of the Dortmund box; Ramos broke free of Süle and powered a header towards the left side of the net, but his attempt went inches wide of the post. Despite the fact that Monterrey held a majority of the possession afterward, their time would ultimately run out, and Borussia Dortmund would confirm their place in the elite eight with a 2-1 victory.

With that, Borussia Dortmund will be one of two German sides in the quarterfinal (the other being FC Bayern München), and will face Real Madrid, set for Saturday at 16.00 (EDT) / 22.00 (CET) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. If both Dortmund and Bayern win their matches, it means an all-German semifinal on Wednesday, 9. July at the same venue.

Serhou Guirassy, who scored a brace, was selected as the player of the match. Shots finished 14-6 to Monterrey, 7-3 on target with 58 % possession and an 89 % pass accuracy on 605 passes, compared to 85 % on 428 for Borussia Dortmund. In the second half alone, Borussia Dortmund did not have a single shot on target while Monterrey had three, despite the fact that Monterrey held only 51 % of the possession and both teams had an 86 % pass accuracy rate.