Borussia Dortmund failed to impress against tournament’s dark horse AS Monaco as Thomas Tuchel’s side got completely outclassed by Jardim’s men.
Highly rated teenager Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring, by finishing off a rebound, then Radamel Falcao followed up with his signatory headed finish to give his side a 2:0 cushion in the first half.
Dortmund came roaring back in the second half though, as Marco Reus pulled one back for the visitors shortly after the restart but at the end, it was too much of a daunting task for the Black and Yellows, as they left spaces open, only for the likes of Germain to make full use of.
Here are the Dortmund players rated in their disappointing defeat against the impressive Monaco.
Roman Burki(7/10): Could have done a lot better job to hold onto the initial shot but since he couldn’t, Kylian Mbappe was there put in the rebound.
Burki did, however, pull off a couple of great saves to keep his side in the game and at the end, he should have done a better job overall.
Lukasz Piszczek(7/10): Once again an awful night for the Polish International. Playing against Monaco seems to a nightmare for the ex-Hertha defender.
Sokratis(7.5/10): Was brilliant on some instances but the Greek International was all on his own against this fierce attacking firepower Monaco.
Matthias Ginter(6.5/10): As feared by most of the Dortmund fans, placing Ginter in the starting lineup was a completely wrong decision by coach Thomas Tuchel. He tried to mark Falcao from five yards away and deservedly got wrecked by the two attackers up front.
Raphael Guerrerio(7/10): The Portuguese midfielder was out of sorts throughout the game. Failed to exhibit his seamless quality on the pitch. A night to forget for the former Lorient star.
Julian Weigl(7/10): Didn’t manage to make himself big in the middle of the park. The likes of Moutinho and Bakayako constantly kept the 21-year-old at bay and gave him very little time to work with.
Erik Durm(6.5/10): The 24-year-old defender was surprisingly chosen ahead of Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele in the right midfield position, which at the end, proved to be the undoing for Thomas Tuchel. Was too slow against the marauding Benjamin Mendy and got deservedly subbed off after just 30 minutes.
Nuri Sahin(7/10): Not a good game at all for the Turkish International. Sahin wasn’t as efficient as he was in the first leg, but credit should be given to the Monaco midfielders for keeping him quiet the entire match.
Shinji Kagawa(7.5/10): A poor first half display was followed by a smashing second half performance. The Japanese International found more space in the second half and did well to utilise them but unfortunately, no one really was up to the task to convert all those chances.
Marco Reus(8/10): Opened the scoring with an impressive first touch finish into the corner of the net. However, Reus fluffed loads of chances on the night, including a couple of shots from the box, both of which were shot right at the goalkeeper. However, the returning star of BVB was very committed and gave his all in trying to outscore the opposition.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang(7.5/10): Made some decent runs in behind the defence, and also helped out with the build up a few times. No one was able to find that cutting edge passes to complement his runs in behind.
Subs
Ousmane Dembele(8/10): He was very good from the moment he came on for Erik Durm. The Frenchman seemed to be a troublesome individual for the Monaco defence. His cross resulted in the goal from Marco Reus in the second half.
Marcel Schmelzer(7.5/10): Played some decent link-up play in the left flank after coming on for underperforming Raphael Guerrerio but it was too little too late.
Christian Pulisic(NA): Came on so late that he didn’t even have time to make himself heard.
