BVB lose final friendly 2-1 to Juventus | OneFootball

With 81,365 spectators watching on at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, World Cup winner Mats Hummels played his final match in a Black & Yellow shirt after making 508 competitive appearances for the club. Hummels captained the team and featured as a "guest" for 17 minutes of the friendly against Juventus. BVB took the initiative, but it was Juventus who scored the goals: the Italians defended strongly and led 1-0 at half-time thanks to a 16th-minute opener from Cambiaso, who added to the scoresheet eight minutes after the break. Beier then found the net in the 89th minute to set up an exciting finish.

The scenario: It was a meeting between last year's fourth-placed teams from the Bundesliga and Serie A. Juve had reached the FIFA Club World Cup round of 16, where they were eliminated by Real Madrid, who would go on to face BVB in the quarter-finals. With the league season set to start on Saturday, it was the Turin outfit's second and final friendly following a 2-2 draw with Reggiana. BVB had won 8-1 against Siegen and 3-2 against Lille.

Tactics: Both teams lined up with a back three, with the Italian side's back line consisting of three, four or five players depending on the situation. For Juve, the central midfielders played quite high up the pitch in the 3-4-3 formation when in possession. The Italians defended tightly and deep, looking to go forward directly after winning the ball. For BVB, Sabitzer often dropped back behind Groß and Bellingham in a 3-1-4-2 formation, with the latter two controlling the game from the advanced central midfield positions, while Adeyemi operated as a second striker behind and to the left of Guirassy.

The match & analysis:The clash between the two Champions League participants was a friendly in name rather than nature, with both teams foregoing short passing play due to their condensed pre-seasons and instead playing with purpose, tempo and a high level of commitment. BVB preferred to attack down the left flank via Adeyemi. The Black & Yellows were on the front foot, but the visitors opened the scoring. After a counter-attack had initially been fended off, Adeyemi did not challenge the advancing Kalulu decisively enough on the left of his own box. The defender's cross was slotted home by the unmarked Cambiaso in the six-yard box (16).

The opening goal came against the run of play and did not do the match – and in particular Dortmund's game – any good. The Black & Yellows struggled to make an attacking impact, while the highly physical nature of the training camp was also taking its toll. Süle, who had replaced Hummels, went to ground without opposition involvement in the 44th minute. He held his hands to his face and was helped off the pitch. Couto came on, with Ryerson moving over to the right-back position.

The start to the second half was difficult too. Although BVB again succeeded in setting up camp in the opposition half, they failed to create any goalscoring chances. Juve, on the other hand, took advantage of their first attack to score their second goal. In the 53rd minute, Cambiaso fired the ball into the net from a tight angle on the left of the six-yard box to make it 2-0. Yildiz had pushed the ball past Couto, putting Cambiaso through.

Four new faces came on after an hour: Brandt, Beier, Nmecha and Özcan replaced Adeyemi, Bellingham, Sabitzer and Groß, but the attacking play continued to be too slow while Guirassy spurned a chance to score from a promising position (62). But Dortmund kept going, refusing to admit defeat in front of a full house. They enjoyed plenty of possession but continued to lack ideas in the opposition penalty area on the day after returning home from their training camp. The Italian league kicks off this coming weekend, while its German counterpart starts seven days later.

There was, at least, a consolation goal! An 89th-minute possession turnover from Beier saw the ball fall to Couto, who accelerated on the right and fed Brandt. Beier controlled his cross on the right of the six-yard box and fired the ball into the net to make it 2-1. Beier had the chance to make it 2-2 from a tight angle shortly afterwards, but his curling shot flew wide of the far post.

Outlook:  There are eight days until the cup tie away to Rot-Weiss Essen on Monday 18 August.

Teams & goals