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6th December 2011. Bottom of the group, four points from six games and eliminated with barely a whimper. Things looked even gloomy for Die Borussen after they were drawn in “The Group of Champions” along with bigwigs Real Madrid, Manchester City and a youthful Ajax side. Not many had given them a chance to progress onto the next round but after finishing bottom of their group last year, they have visibly learned from that experience and more than made amends this term, cruising through the competition’s toughest group unbeaten.
Fast, free flowing football, with a very swift transition from defence to attack, has seen Dortmund create chances at will, dismantle opposition defences with ease, and they would’ve won all six games had it not been for some outstanding keeping from the opposition goalkeepers.
The following are the top performers for the Champions League dark-horses:
1. Marco Reus
Dortmund-born and bred, Reus took no time to get settled in his new team and link up with his new team-mates. A skilled dribbler with pace and a great footballing brain, he can trouble defences at will and create chances aplenty. His constant pressing, intelligent movement, switching wings and being a burgeoning threat on the counter saw him keep the Madrid and City defence on their toes, allowing him to score a half volley and pounce on a defensive error against Madrid and City respectively. Three goals, which included important strikes against City and Real in his debut campaign, have seen Reus fill up the void left by Kagawa’s transfer with utmost ease.
2. Mario Götze
He had a phenomenal group phase as Dortmund stormed its way past Madrid, City and Ajax all the way up to the top of group D. He won the spot kick against Ajax in the first game after a mazy run and also set up Reus a few times. His quick feet and intelligent possession played a crucial role in ensuring that almost every BVB attack was one of purpose. Against Real on Matchday 3, he played a bit deeper and wasn’t that effective but he got better and better with each appearance and was the Man Of The Match at the Amsterdam ArenA on Matchday 5 where he scored one and created two goals. All in all, he has one goal and three assists to his name until now.
3. Robert Lewandowski
Constant rumours linking him with Bayern Munich and Manchester United haven’t deterred Lewandowski from doing what he does best. Link up with Reus and Götze, get into attacking positions all the time and score the odd poacher’s goal. He is currently joint third in the CL top scorers list with five strikes to his name (and one assist), including the late goal against Ajax on Matchday 1 which earned Dortmund all three points. He was particularly lethal in the home game against Real Madrid where he caused their defenders plenty of problems by regularly dropping into deeper positions to get the ball. Showed great calmness to score the opener in the first half. His best game though was against Ajax away where he scored a brace to seal top spot in the group for Borussia Dortmund.
4. Mats Hummels
His imperious and classic centre-back displays against the likes of Real and City have re-underlined the fact that he is one of the best defenders in the business, and no wonder there is a long list of clubs who would like to have him in their team right now. He effectively stopped the attacking threat of the likes of Ronaldo, Eriksen, Agüero and co as Dortmund conceded a meagre five goals in the group stages. He was very consistent throughout the group stages, none more so than in the club’s consecutive games with Madrid where his calmness under pressure, authority and all-round reading of the game helped Dortmund remain undefeated in both contests. Though he was comparatively a bit sloppy against Shakhtar in the first leg of the Round of 16, his all-important equalizer late in the game meant that Dortmund took two away goals into the next leg at Signal Iduna Park and have a great chance of making it to the next round.
5. Lukasz Piszczek
This UEFA Champions League season, Lukasz Piszczek leads Borussia Dortmund in tackles per game and tackles per foul. The 27-year-old emerged on top in majority of the contests on the right flank. When given a chance, he surges forward to apply more pressure on opposition defences and on Matchday 1, it was his attacking run and cross which set-up Lewandowski’s winner. He pushed a naive Samir Nasri into submission when Manchester City undeservedly claimed a draw. Cristiano Ronaldo, who averaged 9.5 shots per Champions League game going into the match against Dortmund, was only limited to three shots against Dortmund. His best display came at the Etihad, where the Premier League champions could barely suppress his right-sided surges, let alone expose him defensively.
