Scott Stewart reviews five talking points from the DFB Pokal Final where Wolfsburg defeated Dortmund in the Berlin showdown
VfL Wolfsburg captured their first DFB-Pokal trophy in the club’s history on Saturday as they beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1. A goal in the 5th minute from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave BVB an early lead, but by halftime Wolfsburg led 3-1 after goals from Luis Gustavo, Kevin De Bruyne, and Bas Dost. That score-line would ultimately go unchanged despite a good bit of second half action.
Das Spiel ist aus. // That’s it. We’ve lost. Good night. #bvbwob 1-3 FT.
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) May 30, 2015
Here are a five takeaways from the showdown in Berlin:
Borussia Dortmund will rue missed chances
Though it was the Black & Yellow who struck first, ultimately the missed chances from Reus, Aubameyang, and Kagawa were, essentially, what cost Dortmund a send-off victory for manager Jürgen Klopp in his last match in charge.
Reus received a pass from Aubameyang in the 17th minute but put his effort high, something that shocked even Wolfsburg keeper Diego Benaglio. The second missed chance came at the feet of goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 43rd minute after an incredible pass from Shinji Kagawa, but a late challenge from Wolfsburg left-back Ricardo Rodriguez put him off what could have been a crucial goal before half. The last chance was left begging for Shinji Kagawa after a good run then pass from Marco Reus put Kagawa right in front of goal. However, Kagawa couldn’t quite get the shot off properly and watched it roll off the post as Dortmund’s frustrations grew.
Wolfsburg took their chances with quality
The first goal was less quality and more a reflection of Dortmund’s lack of marking after a set piece as Mitch Langerak initially saved Naldo’s driven free kick before Luis Gustavo battered home the rebound.
However, the second goal was nothing but sheer quality as the coveted playmaker Kevin De Bruyne rifled a rocket past Langerak in the 33rd minute. Bas Dost drew both Hummels and Subotic towards the ball before laying it into space, and De Bruyne made no mistake driving the ball past the Australian keeper who never stood a chance.
The third and final goal from Bas Dost has to be credited to Ivan Perisic, as it was the Croatian who did all the work getting down the right flank to cross the ball in, but Dost deserves credit for creating space from the defender Subotic before heading it in with ease.
Aggressiveness became the key
The English duo of Roger Bennett and Michael Davies, known as the Men in Blazers, began to point out a cultural football phenomenon that appears to have affected Dortmund in this one – they scored too early. Although Aubameyang’s goal was crucial and gave his side initial momentum, it spurred Wolfsburg to attack and become more aggressive which Klopp’s men adjusted to poorly. Even Die Wolfe manager Dieter Hecking joined in as Wolfsburg went from down one to up two-all within seventeen minutes.
Dortmund were definitely the aggressor in the second half, and that helped swing momentum back to their side, but as emphasized earlier they missed far too many chances and their efforts were nullified.
Wolfsburg were superior tactically
One of the things that initially made Klopp and his team famous were their incredible abilities in pressing the ball, forcing a mistake, and pouncing with a ferocious counter-attack. Tonight, it was Wolfsburg who held their shape, passing around Dortmund’s pressure with ease and scoring almost at will.
Dortmund chased the ball far too much and this led to players being out-of-place at all the wrong times. For example, at the beginning of the second half Wolfsburg were starting a counter-attack and after just two passes found themselves all the way from just inside their own half to through on goal. Erik Durm stepped up to press on Dost receiving the ball, but the big man simply turned and played Caliguiri through though Langerak was able to produce a fine save.
As an example from a goal, although Bas Dost did will to separate himself from Subotic to get on the end of Perisic’s cross, fault still lies with Subotic for not communicating with Durm as the two fell out-of-place allowing the Dutchman an easy finish.
Die Wolfe do not believe in fairy tales
Forget that long time Dortmunder Sebastian Kehl was playing his last match. Forget that Jürgen Klopp’s incredible reign as manager was coming to a close. Dieter Hecking set his men up for success and they deserve much credit for not allowing Aubameyang’s early finish to dampen their spirit. Kevin De Bruyne and Daniel Caliguiri were incredible and were obvious reasons why Dortmund struggled both in midfield and defense.
Wolfsburg forced Dortmund to make mistakes of their own, and after not capitalizing on their chances BVB grew frustrated and the game began to slip away from them. Though those in the Sudtribune would argue that it could have easily been 4-3 to Dortmund, it is just as easily arguable that the score-line could have been much worse as Wolfsburg missed a few chances of their own.
Despite going down early, the green and white were able to work their way back into the match swiftly and caught Dortmund off guard with their pace and ferocity. Wolfsburg deserved this match and it will be all the more sweet knowing it was their first DFB-Pokal trophy ever.