Champions League: Sevilla prove the perfect tonic for Borussia Dortmund ahead of Bayern Munich clash | DW | 05.10.2022

What made Borussia Dortmund’s 4-1 win against Sevilla so much more timely for Edin Terzic’s side was that this was a victory far more hard-earned than the scoreline suggests.

Dortmund beat Copenhagen by the same scoreline they had at halftime in Sevilla (3-0), but that opening game was merely a flexing of skill compared to what went down at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. This was a scrap, overseen by an eager referee Maurizio Mariani. 

Twenty-one minutes in, Dortmund were ahead thanks to a superb goal by Raphael Guerreiro, Alexander Meyer had made three great saves to deny Youssef En-Nesyri and Sevilla had a man sent off and then brought back on by VAR. It was wild, and Edin Terzic proudly declared afterwards that the latter decision in particular “didn’t phase us.”

By the break, Dortmund looked to have proven all that was required of them. Youssoufa Moukoko, making his first Champions League start aged 17, added energy and intent to Dortmund’s line. Having overcome his over-eagerness, a sumptuous first touch set up a Dortmund goal as the visitors led 3-0 at the end of the first 45 minutes.

A repeat of Cologne appeared out of the question. But this is Dortmund and when En-Nesyri headed in six minutes after the restart, the worst loomed. Passes became harder to string together, frustration harder to suppress, crosses harder to clear.

Dortmund deny hosts

But Dortmund fought through that passage of the game in which Sevilla tried to wrestle back control. They kept their temper but didn’t back down when Sevilla tried to draw them into a mental error. They rode their luck when they needed to. And they had Jude Bellingham.

“The difference [to the weekend] was that we did our work early, three goals in the first half allows you to be more comfortable in the second,” Bellingham told DAZN afterwards. “That’s the lesson for us going forward, if we can finish games in the first half, we can definitely enjoy the second half more. Even if they put us under some adversity at the end, we can handle it better.”

It is already scary to think what lies ahead for this 19-year-old. Captaining the side once more, Bellingham charged around the field, squared up to opponents and rallied a group of players that increasingly looks to be falling under his command.

When Emre Can barked at the referee, Bellingham was the one pushing him away. When Dortmund were struggling, he was the one signalling instructions from midfield. And right when Dortmund needed it, he delivered a sensational goal scored with the outside of his boot, having sold Sevilla’s defenders a superb dummy. In doing so, Bellingham became the first midfielder in Champions League history to score in three consecutive appearances while still a teenager.

“It wasn’t all good today, and we haven’t forgotten Saturday just because of the result today,” Terzic said afterwards.

That much may be true but this victory, ultimately secured by Julian Brandt’s perfectly-placed header, was a timely reward for Dortmund. The Bundesliga side dodged the knockout blow that has so often been the end of them this season as well as absorbed all the small jabs in between.

It is no sustainable way to play an entire season, but it was the perfect way to prepare for Bayern Munich.