Personnel issues:Following Aaron Anselmino’s return to Chelsea after his mortgage spell, Daniel Svensson’s suspension (crimson card at Tottenham), Waldemar Anton’s sickness and Niklas Süle’s damage, head coach Niko Kovac instantly had a defensive downside: there have been solely 5 skilled and “drilled” professionals accessible for the 5 positions within the again three and on the wings of the midfield. As well as, midfielders Marcel Sabitzer (calf issues) and Salih Özcan (not registered) have been lacking. In comparison with the league match at Union Berlin (a 3-0 win), Kovac made two adjustments to the beginning line-up: 20-year-old Filippo Mane and Ramy Bensebaini got here into the crew for Anton and Svensson. There have been solely 4 outfield gamers on the bench: Adeyemi, Brandt, Couto and Chukwuemeka.
The match:Within the sleet in Dortmund, Serhou Guirassy had the prospect to open the scoring after ten minutes: a move into the centre beat the opponent’s offside entice, however Guirassy, who was utterly unmarked and will have completed from eight metres out, didn’t strike the ball cleanly. Earlier than and after that, BVB had nice issue discovering gaps in Inter’s tightly-packed defence. And in transition, Inter have been assured on the ball and repeatedly appeared harmful. When in possession, each wingers moved into the centre to create numerical superiority. Within the sixteenth minute, Bisseck, who had pushed ahead, had two good possibilities to attain.
General, it was a primary half of modest high quality with no (additional) highlights in or across the penalty areas. The Black & Yellows rarely bought behind the opponent’s again line. The groups went into the break with Inter having had six photographs on aim in comparison with 4 for BVB.
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The second half supplied far more depth after the restart. However Inter remained a tough opponent to play in opposition to. The Dortmund gamers all the time had two opponents on their heels once they had the ball. Alternatively, Inter often confirmed flashes of the category anticipated of Serie A leaders – Bensebaini (64) and Nmecha (66) have been each required to make last-ditch interventions.
Inter stepped up their attacking efforts within the last quarter of an hour and took the lead within the eightieth minute with a direct free kick from Dimarco, who curled the ball over the wall from precisely 20 metres out. This was preceded by Bensebaini dropping possession on the left wing. Dortmund have been unable to mount any additional harmful assaults and suffered their first dwelling defeat on this competitors in over a 12 months. As an alternative, Diouf added a second aim for Inter in stoppage time.
Outlook: The play-offs will probably be drawn on Friday, the place BVB may face Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta. Within the Bundesliga, the motion continues on Sunday (17:30 CET) with a house match in opposition to 1. FC Heidenheim.
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BORUSSIA DORTMUND 0–2 (0-0) INTER MILAN
UEFA Champions League, Matchday 8Wednesday, 28 January 2026, 21:00 CET
Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Mane (89, Couto), Can, Schlotterbeck – Ryerson, Bellingham, Nmecha, Bensebaini (81, Chukwuemeka) – Beier, Guirassy (68, Adeyemi), Fabio Silva (81, Brandt)
Substitutes: Meyer, Ostrzinski
Inter Milan: Sommer – Akanji, Acerbi, Bisseck – Luis Henrique, Sucic (88, Bastoni), Zielinski (74, Frattesi), Mkhitaryan (88, Diouf), Dimarco – Thuram (88, Martinez), Bonny (57, Esposito)
Substitutes: di Gennaro, Martinez; Carlos Augusto, Cocchi, Darmian, de Vrij, Bovo