Emre Can was on the ground. The foul on the Dortmund captain was not whistled – and the Madrilenians continued to play. The counterattack rolled towards the BVB goal. Sebastian Kehl couldn’t stay on the bench, he ran towards the edge of the field and complained loudly.
Since only one person believes he can do this in the Wanda Metropolitano, Atlético Madrid’s atmospheric arena, the answer was not long in coming: Diego Simeone, the eternal provocateur in the guild of top coaches, stormed towards Dortmund’s sporting director , pushed him and gestured wildly with his arms. But Kehl didn’t back down. Both were head to head and had to be separated.
For former national player Michael Ballack, Kehl’s reaction was “absolutely” the right one. We know Atlético’s behavior, including the coach. “You can’t just put up with everything. We know Simeone on the line. If the referee doesn’t intervene, it will certainly be necessary to reprimand him. Sebastian Kehl felt called to do that,” said DAZN expert Ballack.
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“It was about countering today, that was the case in the situation,” said Kehl afterwards. He “didn’t want to put up with everything”. This could also have been the motto for the German runner-up’s performance in the 1:2 (0:2) draw in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League – but only for the phase after the remarkable tête-à-tête in the 58th minute. Because that’s when the Dortmunders finally started to defend themselves – after they had almost given the impression that they were under the influence of tranquilizers.
Atlético coach Simoene pulled out all the stops again
“I didn’t even notice it, but it’s just part of it. You know that you not only need eleven players on the pitch, but also all the guys on the bench, all the coaches too. And the fact that things can get heated in the coaching area is nothing new, that doesn’t surprise us,” explained BVB coach Edin Terzic about the incident with Kehl and Simeone.
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In any case, the Atlético coach had pulled out all the stops again on Wednesday: the Argentine complained, whipped up the audience and shouted around on the sidelines. In doing so, he also contributed to an atmosphere that can certainly be intimidating.
This was particularly clear in the early stages: Atlético barely allowed BVB to catch their breath, attacked their opponents extremely early – and, thanks to the impressive volume of the 70,000 fans, caused real chaos. The Dortmund team made hair-raising mistakes. After just four minutes, BVB keeper Gregor Kobel unnecessarily played on Ian Maatsen, who was in trouble – Rodrigo de Paul splashed in and scored to make it 1-0. After 32 minutes, Nico Schlotterbeck made a similar mistake, which led to Samuel Lino making it 0-2. BVB was in danger of going under. A debacle was on the horizon.
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It was a game that gave him “a lot of very mixed feelings,” said Terzic. “We started extremely poorly, played very incorrectly and nervously and gave away two very easy goals,” said the coach. “Normally” at this level and against such an opponent it is “game over.” Terzic had to take a breather at halftime. Almost everything that seemed to be gradually stabilizing in the last few weeks threatened to be pulverized in Madrid’s stress test: the game structure, the team’s complete stability – and, above all, Terzic’s match plan.
It was a disturbing performance by BVB. The Dortmund team constantly played the balls into their opponents’ feet. “We kept playing in a standing formation, but that was exactly what Atlético wanted,” said Terzic, who explained the disaster with a lack of experience. It was noticeable to Madrid’s ball-savvy attackers Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata that they had played games at this level “not for the first time”, “unlike our boys.”
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This is a pretty thin approach. Strategies on how to react to aggressive pressing should be common knowledge for a Champions League quarter-finalist. Especially because it is known how Atlético plays. But why Dortmund kept making the same mistakes until shortly before half-time remains a mystery.
At the break Terzic finally managed to make some corrections. With Julian Brandt, a player who was confident on the ball came in for the overwhelmed Felix Nmecha – BVB increasingly gained control of the game. But also because Atlético suddenly retreated a long way. Simeone was afraid his team wouldn’t be able to keep up the high tempo. “When we shifted our game more and included the outside players, the Spaniards could no longer run into the spaces,” said Marcel Sabitzer. The Dortmund team felt that something could actually work out for them.
Haller was a stroke of luck at BVB
However, it took some time before they were able to create clear scoring chances. It wasn’t until the middle of the second half that determination came into BVB’s performance – the feeling of showing the opponent in terms of toughness and will. Or, to put it with Kehl: to stop putting up with everything.
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The bottom line was the goal from substitute Sébastien Haller. With the Ivorian, who came on as a substitute for the weak Niclas Füllkrug in the 60th minute, Dortmund finally had a center forward with whom they could break down the quite vulnerable Atlético defense. His goal to make it 1-2 (81st) preserved BVB’s chances of the second leg next Tuesday.
Haller, who was injured at the Africa Cup of Nations in January and therefore had to fight for a long time to keep up, was “very important” not only because of his goal, said Kehl: “Above all, he was also very present in the penalty area.” He If he were to actually reach top form again, he could take BVB’s offensive game to another level – in contrast to Füllkrug.
In any case, there is still hope of reaching a semi-final of the Champions League for the first time in eleven years – if BVB does not allow themselves to be intimidated again. “We saw that Atlético can be beaten. It’s definitely not over yet,” said Kehl. His new friend Diego Simeone also has to live with this realization.