Champions League: what Dortmund has ahead of FC Bayern

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Well positioned: BVB around goalscorer Erling Haaland

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Martin Meissner / AP

Philippe Clement admitted straight away that his team lacks the class to compete with Borussia Dortmund.

"This is a team outside of our league," said the Club Bruges coach.

Now and then BVB manages to adjust to the level of weaker opponents and then lose.

But in the past few weeks, coach Lucien Favre's team has done its job confidently from the role of favorites.

In the Champions League, the 3-0 win in Bruges was followed by a 3-0 win against Bruges. 

"If it works, then it works," said Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Bürki on a simple formula.

“The difference in level was too great.

The players feel that.

Maybe that's why a bit of enthusiasm was gone, ”Clement defended the shy appearance of the Belgian champion. 

Erling Haaland also experienced moments without enthusiasm on Tuesday evening.

He was even so annoyed at a missed chance that he stopped instead of helping his colleagues with the new hunt for the ball.

It will be exciting to see what the Norwegian will do when he actually fails to hit several games.

But he scored two goals against Bruges.

He is now with 16 goals in twelve games in the Champions League.

In the Bundesliga he had recently scored four goals against Hertha BSC. 

Three players whose failure would really hurt

Haaland is an exceptional striker and also an exception in the BVB squad.

He is needed as a fixed point in the attack, as the other options such as Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard and Marco Reus have turned out to be significantly weaker.

With Youssoufa Moukoko, Dortmund now has a second classic center forward in the squad, but he is only 16 years and a few days old.

Next Wednesday, when BVB can make the perfect place in the round of 16 against Lazio Rome, he will perhaps become the youngest player ever played in the Champions League.

Favre denied him a substitute against Bruges. 

Haaland in front, Mats Hummels in central defense as the organizing force with a good opening of the game, Raphael Guerreiro as left defender - these are the three players at BVB whose spares or failures would mean a loss of quality.

Otherwise, Favre has numerous opportunities to distribute the burden of the coming weeks well.

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Jadon Sancho is also getting more and more in shape

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UWE KRAFT / imago images / Uwe Kraft

After the opening defeat, the 1: 3 at Lazio, it looked like Thomas Meunier needed a break because of poor performance.

But the Belgian international improved and has played solid to well since then.

Mateu Morey or Emre Can, however, can always be trusted to represent Meunier as right-back.

Can can also play in central defense or in the central midfield, in which there are already four professionals with Axel Witsel, Thomas Delaney, Jude Bellingham and Mahmoud, who can play depending on the opponent's requirements and their own physical condition, without someone convincing afterwards can that this was a foreseeable weakening. 

It looks similar in the attacking midfield and with the winger: Hazard, Brandt, Reus, Giovanni Reyna and Jadon Sancho are ready for the positions around the fixed point Haaland.

At Sancho, the trend in the game against Bruges was clearly upwards.

A nice free kick goal to make it 2-0 right before the break whistle, the template to make it 1-0 by Haaland, further precise through passes and successful dribbling were on the plus side for the England international, who stated: “I had a hard time.

But the coaches put their trust in me.

With such achievements as today, I'll get back to where I was.

That's what it's all about. "

No more exams in the highest category until the end of the year

Young players like 20-year-old Sancho "can't be in top form for a whole year," says Favre.

That is why he "remained very calm" when Sancho lined up average, weak and even listless games.

A Sancho on the way to top form would help BVB a lot if the moments in which individual class decides an even game are called for in the coming weeks.

For Borussia there is no more examination in the highest category until the end of the year.

The currently best-placed opponent in the Bundesliga will be 1. FC Union.

This gives the opportunity to take players out of the rhythm of the English weeks and to reduce the stress.

The squad currently seems to be better positioned than that of Bayern Munich in this regard.

The Munich team has more problems with injuries, and Joshua Kimmich has even been a fixed point for longer.

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