Eintracht Frankfurt – Borussia Dortmund: Bundesliga Returns With A Bang (3-3)

An entertaining tie between Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund treated Bundesliga fans to a six-goal thriller in the first game after the winter break. Diagonal passes stole the show, as all three Dortmund goals and one of Frankfurt’s were initiated in similar fashion.

Tactical analysis and match report by Fahd Ahmed.

The Bundesliga season resumed after a short winter break. With many teams separated by only a few points in the top half of the league table, the Friday night clash between Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund was an intriguing tie.

Dino Toppmöller made five changes to the side that he fielded against Hamburger. Most of those changes were in defence. In goal, Michael Zetterer was benched for Kauã Santos. Arthur Theate and Rasmus Kristensen were deployed as the wide centre-backs instead of Nnamdi Collins and Aurèle Amenda. Hugo Larsson was paired with Oscar Højlund instead of Mahmoud Dahoud. Can Uzun returned to the lineup, which meant there was more attacking firepower, as Toppmöller fielded one fewer defender. Lastly, Younes Ebnoutalib was chosen up top, as Jean-Mattéo Bahoya was injured.

On the other hand, Niko Kovač only changed three personnel from the side that defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach comfortably. Emre Can was dropped for Waldemar Anton, a more natural centre-back, who returned from injury. In midfield, the energetic Marcel Sabitzer was chosen ahead of Pascal Groß. Finally, Maximilian Beier was preferred to the pacey Karim Adeyemi in attack.

Varying defensive strategies depending on the phase of play

In the opening five minutes of the game, it was interesting to notice Frankfurt’s . . .