Although I didn't get the best sit in the house, I managed to see quite the most interesting games and at halftime I said to a friend "It doesn't get any bigger or better than the ucl".
Group D
Pardon my over anxiety in jumping onto group D, but if you would agree the best movies were to be and were eventually played in this theatre. Back in August when the draws were made the "mighty Real Madrid" would have expected to somehow steamroll past their alleged inferior counterparts and claim top spot, unfortunately *sighs*. It's often said; 'when the elephants fight the grass suffers' but here I am struggling to place the elephant and grass in this array.
After their (Real Madrid) previous woes in Germany continued Jose Mourinho would have hoped the 1st leg defeat to Dortmund was in line with a German myth. Dortmund however were of a different mindset as Kloop's men were under no illusion they were going to face Madrid at Bernabeu.
Dortmund took the lead through a Marco Reus stunner. Truly this stunned Madrid as the opening goal was against the run of play with Madrid creating the most chances prior to the opener. Pepe restored parity 8mins later after a sustained spell of pressure. But with barely 60seconds to halftime, spanish fullback Arbeloa deflected a Kevin Grosskreutz's centred cross past Casillas to make it 2-1 going into the break. The ineffective argentine was substituted for Jose Callejon at halftime and rightfully he brought the much needed spark into Madrid's attacking play. Jose Mourinho's men had to dig deep and infact left it late with quite an usual scenario as Ozil stepped up to take a freekick in what seemed to be last kick of the game and My!!! Didn't he deliver when it mattered most. 2-2 it ended.
Without wasting time let's take a closer look at Dortmund's season so far. Jurgen Kloop's men sit 5th position on the log with 11pts points off the pace having played 10 games in the league, with 5 wins 3 draws and 2 losses. Its fair to say they (Dortmund) haven't had the dream start they would have wished for, not when they're challenged by a rampant Bayern Munich side who in contrast have played 10 games won 9, lost 1 and scoring 30 goals. Infact their only loss was understandably inflicted by a city rival Bayer Leverksun.
With this one could say Jürgen Kloop may well be resetting his goals/targets for the season. And why not?, the past two seasons have shown why he's one of the most sought after managers in europe after not only toppling Bayern Munich's dominance in the league but for two years running, with comprehensive victories most notably a 5-2 demolition in the Final cup game of last season.
Yes! He no longer boosts the services of his then play maker in chief in Shinji Kagawa who join Manchester United in June but with summer reinforcements in the Marco Reus this Dortmund team have sufficient armour in their arsenal to make a statement in the champions league.
Watching this Dortmund team gives me a nostalgic feeling of a then well balanced Manchester united side who went on to lift the champions league in 2008. Dortmund's attacks are built with pace, accurate passing a touch of incisiveness, upon a very strong foundation. For the past 2years the combined efforts of Subotic and Matt Hummels have been largely underrated, again drawing comparisons to a then formidable combination of a fit Nemanja Vidic and Rio ferdinand.
Every successful team is built on a stable defensive paring and Dortmund are covered in that respect.
Another strength to this Dortmund side is their ability to soak up pressure and hit opponents on the counter attack, as their forwards (Marco Reus & Mario Gotze) move into pockets of space with remarkable ease with an overall ability to deliver a defence splitting pass. Neither do they lack when it comes to aerial play as the recent exploits of the lethal poacher Lewandowski is evident of Dortmund's aerial prowess.
Borussia Dortmund are top of group d and on the brink of qualification as Klopp's men just need a point at Ajax to qualify with a game to spare. If Dortmund lose to both Ajax and to Man City their fate would be decided by the result of the Ajax vs Real Madrid game on matchday six.
In summation, the big talking point is with Klopp's men now in the media spotlite and dubbed ucl contenders, can the manager keep his side's anxiety to a minimum and further mastermind another success route by leading his charges to champions league glory.
Follow the author of this piece on twitter @YubbyThePundit
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