Rangers can rock Dortmund’s 'faltering' defence by targeting ageing star with plummeting form

However, while the Bundesliga giants can lay claim to some of Europe’s most exciting young players, Marco Rose’s side are anything but the finished article and offer a number of weaknesses that Rangers could take advantage of over the course of two legs.

Weaknesses

There’s no doubt that Dortmund’s biggest issue in Europe and indeed back in the Bundesliga is the fact that the team simply can’t defend. For the most part, Rose is still relying on the creaking defence he inherited from his predecessor and it continues to undermine the team’s ability to win games and challenge for silverware. And it’s only getting worse.

For example, Dortmund’s faltering defence from last season was evident enough from the club’s xG against standing at 1.4 per match and their conceded goals average being a rather unflattering 1.27 per match. And yet, those figures have risen to 1.43 xG against and 1.57 goals conceded per match this time around.

At the heart of this defensive demise is undoubtedly 32-year-old central defender Mats Hummels, who barks commands and drags the team’s defensive line across the pitch with him with diminishing returns with every passing matchday.

Indeed, Hummels’ personal stats are almost uniformly falling across the board. His interceptions per game from last season have fallen from 6.14 to 5.35, the amount of aerial duels he wins has fallen from 67 percent to 55.8 percent and his range of passing - something that the defender was once famous for - is also taking a nosedive.

As the graph above shows, Hummels’ is attempting fewer passes in general along with less attempts to put the ball in the final third or long passes up the pitch. And in just about every case his accuracy is also beginning to let him down.

And due to the fact that Dortmund have few alternatives in central defence (Emre Can and Axel Witsel have often been drafted into the role this season), the German giants are stuck with their ageing defensive star until they can potentially sign a replacement in January or the summer transfer window.

Strengths

While Dortmund have a number of issues in defence, their main strengths lie in scoring goals and more often than not, Rose’s side have simply scored their way out of trouble in the Bundesliga this season.

The Westfalen side have the third-best goalscoring record in the league behind Bayern Munich and Celtic’s group stage rivals Bayer Leverkusen, but boast the second-best accumulative xG in the league after 15 games.

Where the goals come from isn’t a difficult task to figure out at all. In Erling Haaland, Dortmund have a truly world-class striker that can create something out of nothing, which is perfectly showcased by the striker’s 11 league goals from an xG of just 7.62 in this season’s Bundesliga.

The towering striker is undoubtedly known for his remarkable pace and can often be found on Twitter outrunning some of the quickest defenders in the world, but his real talent lies in being a tremendous penalty-box striker.

Of the 17 goals Haaland has scored this season, just one has come from outside the box. Only three players across Europe’s top five leagues average more touches in the box per game than the Dortmund forward and only one averages more shots.

Indeed, better teams than Rangers have tried and failed miserably in their attempts to stop Haaland once the ball lands at his feet in the opposing box. Instead, the Ibrox side may be better suited trying to limit the service Haaland receives in each match in an attempt to keep the striker quiet.

When it comes to providing assists for Haaland, three players stand out in Rose’s Dortmund side: Marco Reus, Jude Bellingham and Julian Brandt.

Reus, the club’s captain, tends to play as a No.10 and enjoys linking up with Haaland in the final third with quick transitions of play and is joint second in Dortmund’s squad for key passes and first for through passes in the Bundesliga this season.

Dortmund’s other playmaking weapons lie in Bellingham and Brandt, who tend to occupy the middle of the pitch as counter-pressing attack dogs with the ability to pick a pass or dribble by defenders with ease.

The England international has made more dribbles through the middle of the pitch than any other Dortmund player this season and sits joint second for key passes alongside Reus, while Brandt is second only to roving wing-back Thomas Meunier for crosses into the box and has already picked up more goals and assists in the first half of this season than he did in the entirety of the last one.