Borussia Dortmund played their first match under the stewardship of Edin Terzic as newly installed head coach on Tuesday night. The Black and Yellows came away with a scrappy 2-1 win away to 13th-place Werder Bremen.
So like back in our school days, we are taking a glimpse over the shoulder of Adam Darowski’s self-described “rough notes” as he went through fbref.com’s squad level match logs, trying to spot overall differences rather than individual player performances. If you have questions, please bug him on Twitter @fussballtwit.
Shots
Borussia Dortmund’s shot total (15) was in the middle of pack compared to other performances this season. However, …
Shots on target (10) – the only match in which BVB had more shots on target was the one against Duisburg in the Cup (11). Dortmund also had 10 against Arminia Bielefeld. This led to the best Shot-on-Target % of the season (66.7%, 10 of 15).
xG
4th best xG (2.8) – Hertha (3.5), Freiburg (3.1), and [ugh] Köln (2.9) were higher.
Passing
Only Buli matches with fewer pass attempts (616) were Hoffenheim (611), Bayern (577), and Gladbach (565).
Lowest progressive pass distance of the season (2414). Previous lowest were the two Lazio matches (2891 and 2904). So this is last by a LOT.
Despite that, their number of “progressive passes” (which has a separate definition) was middle of the pack.
Progressive passes are “Completed passes that move the ball towards the opponent’s goal at least 10 yards from its furthest point in the last six passes, or completed passes into the penalty area. Excluded are passes from the defending 40% of the pitch”
Progressive pass yardage is ALL positive pass yardage toward the goal from anywhere on the pitch.
They attempted the 7th most long passes (113) of the season.
Third lowest pass completion rate of the season (82.1) ahead of Bayern (79.4) and Frankfurt (78.3).
Passes into the penalty area were middle of the pack while passes into the final third were on the lower end.
Only 38 of Dortmund’s 616 passes were made under pressure. Just one Brügge match, one Zenit match, and the Stuttgart game (wow) had fewer. For comparison, 177 of the 825 passes they attempted vs. Freiburg were under pressure. Somehow just 14 passes were attempted while under pressure vs. Stuttgart. That seems bizarre and troubling if they had more passes intercepted (20) vs. VfB than were even under pressure.
Off-ball stats
Tackles and pressures both middle of the pack.
Made the most interceptions of the season (17). Previous high was 16 vs Bayern in the Supercup.
Only 3 times have BVB committed more fouls (13) than against Bremen.
Touches
BVB only had three matches with fewer touches overall, but also only two matches with more touches in the attacking penalty area.
Changes of possession
The Black and Yellows were only dispossessed 6 times, the fewest in a match this season. Second fewest was the Buli match vs. Bayern.
Only 2 times did Dortmund recover more loose balls (111) than yesterday (vs. Frankfurt 148 and Bielefeld 114).
[Note: some of these stats are only available for Bundesliga and UCL, so Supercup and Pokal aren’t included.]
