4-1 – Borussia celebrate dominant home victory in the Champions League | OneFootball

In their 09th competitive game of the season, the Black & Yellows took the lead in the 28th minute through Daniel Svensson and enjoyed a lot of possession against their opponents, but found few gaps in Bibao’s tight defence. That changed with the restart, as Bilbao opened up. Carney Chukwuemeka hit the back of the net in the 50th minute to make it 2-0. However, when Gorka Guruzeta pounced on a defensive error to pull one back for the away side in the 61st minute, Borussia wobbled, but did not fall. In the 82nd minute, Serhou Guirassy deflected Marcel Sabitzer's shot, before Julian Brandt made it 4-1 in injury time.

The scenario:   Borussia had started the new Champions League season with a 4-4 draw away to Juventus, and had won eleven of their previous 18 home games in the competition, losing only one (six draws). Bilbao had been beaten 2-0 at home to Arsenal in their opening fixture.

Personnel matters:  BVB head coach Kovac made five changes between the games in Mainz and Leipzig. After two appearances in six days, Schlotterbeck was given a rest, and took a seat on a stacked bench alongside Brandt, Couto, Nmecha and Beier, who all started the match four days ago. Süle, Ryerson, Chukwuemeka, Bellingham and Guirassy took their places in the starting eleven. Anselmino, Campbell (U20 World Cup), Can, Duranville and Özcan (not in the Champions League squad) were missing for the Black & Yellows.

Tactics:Borussia lined up in a 3-4-3 formation with Bellingham operating in a dual pivot alongside Sabitzer and Chukwuemeka as a left-winger. The team from Bilbao played in a 4-2-3-1 formation with the ball, and a tightly packed 4-4-2 without it. BVB thus faced a compact opponent, who operated cleverly and did not let diagonal balls down the right-hand side to Ryerson disrupt their back line.

The match & analysis:The Black & Yellows looked for the gaps in the tight defence of their opponents, but did not jeopardise their own back line, thus maintaining a good balance, but only managed their first shot in the 20th minute when Sabitzer took aim. In the 28th minute, they got in behind Bilbao's back line with a relatively easy pass down the right wing from Ryerson to Adeyemi, who pulled the ball back towards Chukwuemeka, who failed to get on the end of it (or did he deliberately let it run through?), but Svensson was waiting at the far post to prod the ball over the line to make it 1-0.

Süle caused danger with two long-range shots – the first was parried by Simon, before the second whistled just past the post. Otherwise, Athletic Club defended in tough and uncompromising fashion, and seemed very confident in dealing with balls in the air and allowed the home side little overall, but Adeyemi, Dortmund's most mobile player, did manage to create another gap in the first half.

The team from Bilbao came out of the dressing room with three new players and a plan to play much more. This, in turn, opened up space for the Black & Yellows early on. Five minutes after the restart, Sabitzer played in Adeyemi down the right, then made himself available again in the penalty area. When he got the ball back, he found Guirassy in the middle, who in turn played it out to Chukwuemeka on the left. Chukwuemeka took aim with his left foot, and fired a low-driven shot at goal, which took a slight deflection off Gorosabel to make it 2-0 on 50 minutes.

Bellingham narrowly missed a third goal with a long-range shot in the 55th minute, but Bilbao kept at it and pulled one back through some good fortune after a set piece: Süle struck Anton twice in quick succession in the penalty area with attempted clearances. Ultimately, the ball landed at the feet of Guruzeta, who struck a powerful shot into the right corner in the 61st minute. The Basque side were now on top, and Navarro thought he had made it 2-2 in the 67th minute, but was offside. That prompted a response from Kovac, who made two changes. His team were giving the ball away too easily, and struggled to get a grip on the game during this phase. They were lucky to keep the ball out of their own net in the 78th minute, but Svensson prevented Navarro from finding an equaliser in the 78th minute.

But the Black & Yellows got their foot in the door again – and then slammed it shut on the visitors. Sabitzer’s ball found Brandt, who turned on a sixpence, but his hard shot was parried by the brilliant reactions of Unai Simon, who thrust his arms up and tipped the ball wide for a corner. The corner was initially defended, but the ball was recycled by Schlotterbeck and Beier to Sabitzer, whose shot from 18 metres struck Guirassy, giving the keeper no chance as BVB extended their lead to 3-1 in the 82nd minute. In injury time, Brandt even added a fourth to make it 4-1 following an excellent assist from Beier.

Outlook:  On Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League (21 October), Borussia Dortmund face a trip to FC Copenhagen. Before that, there are two Bundesliga games: this Saturday (15:30 CET) they face Leipzig at home, before playing Bayern Munich on 18 October.

Boris Ruper

UEFA Champions League, Matchday 2Wednesday, 1 October 2025, 21:00 CETBORUSSIA DORTMUND – ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO 4-1 (1-0)

Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Süle (Schlotterbeck, 69), Anton, Bensebaini – Ryerson, Sabitzer, Chukwuemeka (Beier, 63), Svensson – Adeyemi (Brandt, 63), Bellingham (Nmecha, 69) – Guirassy (Fabio Silva, 87)Athletic Club: Unai Simon – Gorosabel, Vivian (Laporte, 46), Paredes, Lekue – Jauregizar (de Galarreta, 46), Rego – I. Williams (Guruzeta, 46), Unai Gomez (Serrano, 63), Navarro – Sannadi (Sanchez, 80)Bench: Meyer, Couto, Groß – Padilla, Santos; Adama, Areso, Berchiche, Sancet, PerezGoals: 1-0 Svensson (28, Ryerson), 2-0 Chukwuemeka (50, Guirassy), 2-1 Guruzeta (61), 3-1 Guirassy (82, Sabitzer), 4-1 Brandt (90+1, Beier)Corners: 4-0 (half-time: 2-0), Chances: 7-4 (2-0)Referee: Marciniak (Poland), Yellow cards: Beier – Paredes, GorosabelAttendance: 81,365 (sold-out), Weather: dry, 9 degrees