Match Review : Dortmund vs Barcelona (2-3)

After another debacle in La Liga, Barca was back in action tonight, this time in the Champions League against Dortmund. It wasn’t going to be an easy game, considering the match was away from home at one of the more raucous environments in European football.

But Barca had to be up for the challenge, as a big win would push them further up the UCL league phase table and bring some much needed stability to the club.

So without further ado, let’s see how Barca fared.

First half

The first half was encouraging, especially the opening phases of the match.

Due to Barca’s swarming press, Dortmund were struggling to retain possession of the ball, and as a result Barca were able to recover and retain the ball for the most part. Additionally, Barca were able to retain possession a lot more, while also showcasing more fluid control and easiness in possession.

This led to a rather strong showing in the first half for Barca, but there was still a bit of a problem, they couldn’t turn that control and possession into goals.

Barca had chances to score too. Raphinha had probably the best chance throughout the entire first half for Barca after Lamine Yamal played him a beautiful trivela pass, but the Brazilian couldn’t convert the chance.

Yamal had some chances of his own, but the finishing touch was lacking for him as well. Even Jules Kounde had a pretty good goal scoring chance, but he was denied after some good keeping from Gregor Kobel.

All these missed chances really put a damp on the good work Barca put in throughout the opening 45 minutes and made that feeling of doubt creep back in. Which is why many fans felt uneasy as we went into halftime with the match level at 0-0.

However it wasn’t the end of the world considering there was another 45 minutes left plus extra time to reverse course.

Would Barca do anything with that? Recent history says no, but that’s why we play the games.

So let’s move on to the second half, or in tonight’s case, one of the most explosive second halves I’ve seen recently.

Second half

When Barca ran out for the second half, none of us were expecting the fireworks that soon followed.

For starters, Barca did score the first goal of the game. Dani Olmo found a streaking Raphinha and the Brazilian, who is still on a torrid pace on the field, put it home past Kobel to make it 1-0.

Run timed to perfection from Raphinha 💫 pic.twitter.com/CYGPMC79kD

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 11, 2024

Raphinha could’ve squared it for Yamal, but no one will complain if Raphinha converts those chances at the end of the day.

1-0 was a deserved lead after the first half Barca had, but like their previous matches, they couldn’t hold on to it for long.

Dortmund equalized shortly after via a penalty from Serhou Guirassy, a penalty rightly given after a silly mistake from Pau Cubarsi, one in which Cubarsi knows he can’t make and will learn from.

The despair didn’t last though, as Barca grabbed the lead back after a tap in from Ferran Torres. Torres didn’t do much of the work, as it Fermin Lopez’s shot that forced the rebound, but it was a big big goal nonetheless, as Barca went up 2-1.

But again, the lead didn’t last long, because very soon after, Dortmund equalized due to a defensive disaster from Barca.

They tried to set an offsides trap, but it was poorly timed and too late to make a difference. Iñaki Peña tried to do his part by wildly running out of his net, but Dortmund played around Peña’s presence and eventually scored on an open net to make it 2-2.

Just complete chaos all around, but based on Barca’s recent form, it wasn’t much of a surprise at all.

All hope seemed lost at that point, especially since Barca were getting hounded by Dortmund in their own third and looked to be on the verge of collapsing.

That was until a classic Barca counterattack saw Lamine Yamal deliver a picture perfect ball to a streaking Ferran Torres, who sat and sat before unleashing a good shot past Kobel and into the back of the net.

3-2.

🚨🇪🇺 GOAL | Dortmund 2-3 Barcelona | Ferran Torres

FERRAN TORRES GIVES BARCELONA THE LEAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Qk9x77CmRt

— You Saw It Here First 🥇 (@kenyanihomee) December 11, 2024

And unlike recent times, Barca held on to the lead to secure 3 big points, shooting them up to second on the league phase table with only two matches to go.

Geez, what a game of football.

Final word

Barca couldn’t have made this any harder for theirselves.

Lots of good play going forward, but so much incompetency at the back, a trait that hasn’t been common so far this season. Why has it popped up only now? Who knows, maybe someone went and put 50 pins in a voodoo doll with a Barca kit on it.

Either way the mistakes have to stop defensively if this team wants to win anything significant this season. The elite teams will pounce on these mistakes and cook you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you aren’t careful.

Celebrating the win is the most important thing right now though.

Barca’s next match

Barca’s next match will be on Sunday against Leganes.

See you all then!