Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Bayern Munich: 3 best performers

Bayern Munich probably came into the tie favourites, albeit by a small margin. They had more of their core players back in action than Dortmund and were likely hungry to get their hands on a trophy. Dortmund knew they were underdogs and played like it.

You don't need to know that Bayern had 66% possession of the ball or that they got 16 shots away and spent most of the game camped in Dortmund's half, to know that Bayern Munich were on top for most of the game. If you had watched a 5-minute long clip of the game picked randomly from any of the 90+ minutes that were played, you would know that Bayern dominated the game, but Dortmund were in control.

Borussia Dortmund had a plan and executed it to perfection. There was no element of chance in their goals. They laid the traps and took advantage when Bayern fell into them. Both their goals coming from quick counter-attacking breaks.

Dortmund will now set to refining what they've created, while Bayern will return to examine their flaws. There were three standout performances for Dortmund on the night, let's dive in.

#3 Marco Reus

Mr Dortmund had a stellar game

You probably saw this coming. Whenever Dortmund seem to do well on the pitch, Reus seems to be at the heart of it. He did a superb job going forward, providing options and always appearing to find space despite none being available.

What do you do as an attacker, though, when your team spends 66% of the game defending? Reus' performance answered that question. Dortmund knew that Kovac's Bayern always look to play through the wings, so Reus closed down the central midfielders' passing options out wide and closed them down.

His hard work in tracking back and pressurising Thiago resulted in the turnover of possession that led to the first goal. Even when you look at Dortmund's second goal, Reus ran away from the defenders and occupied space where a pass could easily find him.

Speaking of the second goal...

#2 Jadon Sancho

Sancho could be on the cusp of a breakout season with Borussia Dortmund

Probably not his best overall game. Where Reus was excellent in receiving the ball from teammates and taking the team up the pitch, Sancho kept losing the ball and his touch let him down.

It's easy to spiral after that kind of start, but Sancho must have shown incredible mental fortitude to stay focused in the game and wait for his opportunity. In only the 48th minute, Sancho had his chance and he showed some individual brilliance in taking on a large chunk of Bayern's defence himself before finding Alcacer.

The second goal was all about his pace, skill, and composure. Sancho had a lot of time on the ball and plenty of options. That sounds like a good thing, but it clouds the judgement of the best players at times. The winger was able to focus and back his ability to put it between the legs of Manuel Neuer to score.

#1 Axel Witsel

Axel Witsel has shown why Borussia Dortmund paid the big bucks for him last summer

At the end of the game, there was a passage of play when Coman, ran down the right wing and hugged the byline as he looked for red shirts in the middle. Instead, he found a big yellow shirt blocking his way. Everyone in that Dortmund defence seemed to be running on fumes, including Witsel, yet he had the presence of mind and urgency to realise that he had to take action in that situation.

Witsel sat in front of his back four the entire game and I don't recall a single occasion through the game when Bayern were successful in isolating Dortmund's centre-backs. At times, it looked like Witsel just sat between the two centre-backs and he drifted in there as the game drew to a close.

If this team and Witsel, in particular, are on an upward curve, they will become a difficult side to break down and an attack with many heads that will be difficult to stop.