Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings vs Ajax: 1/10 for Witsel; Haaland, Reus & Malen get 5 or below

Erling Haaland and Marco Reus endured a horror show as Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 4-0 defeat to Ajax.

Borussia Dortmund’s winning streak came to an end as they stumbled to a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Ajax. The result helped the Dutch giants solidify their place at the top of Group C, after the end of the third Matchday.

It was a rather comfortable evening at the Johan Cruijff ArenA for Ajax, as they completely dominated their opposition from start to finish. It all started with the Marco Reus own goal that served as the opener for the home side, in the 11th minute of the game. It made the job a bit difficult for Dortmund, who weren’t finding many openings in the final third.

But more importantly, the Bundesliga giants looked abysmal in the defensive side of things, getting breached time and time again. It was only a matter of before Ajax doubled their advantage through Daley Blind, with the hosts heading into half-time with a handsome 2-0 lead.

In the second half, Dortmund looked even worse, allowing their opposition to dominate the proceedings while looking more vulnerable in defence. Ajax pounced on the opportunity to find the third goal in the 57th minute before Sebastien Haller added more gloss to the scoreline, heading home in the 72nd minute.

Dortmund were lucky not to concede more. And here, at The Hard Tackle, we will run the rule over their players in this humiliating defeat to Ajax this midweek.

Gregor Kobel: 6.5/10

Gregor Kobel did his best to keep his team in the contest with a few extraordinary saves. He was extremely unlucky not to receive proper coverage from the defenders, as the former Stuttgart goalkeeper continues to be let down by his teammates.

Thomas Meunier: 5/10

It was an off day for Thomas Meunier, who had difficulties making his mark on the proceedings. He was sloppy in possession and was rather slow in rotating the ball, especially in the Ajax half. Also struggled to create too many scoring opportunities in the final third.

Manuel Akanji: 5/10

Manuel Akanji had a relatively decent evening compared to his other teammates. His positioning and work ethic was solid, but the Swiss international was always second best to Haller in aerial and physical duels. Not a good sign for Borussia Dortmund.

Mats Hummels: 3/10

Mats Hummels was indirectly culpable for Ajax’s first-half goals. He conceded an unnecessary foul on Antony while making a poor headed clearance, all inside the first half. The veteran centre-back never had the pace to deal with the attacking threat of Ajax, who continued to torment him through the game.

Nico Schulz: 2/10

Nico Schulz had a nightmare start to the game, as he simply had no answer to Antony’s forays down the flanks. His struggles in defence played a massive role in helping Ajax getting their foothold in the proceedings. It wasn’t a surprise to see him getting subbed at half-time.

Jude Bellingham: 6/10

Jude Bellingham had a relatively quiet game evening given his lofty standards. He often lost physical duels to Edson Alvarez while lacking decision-making in the final third. Nevertheless, the youngster did offer more energy than any other Dortmund player on the pitch.

Axel Witsel: 1/10

Axel Witsel was the main liability for Dortmund, as he kept offering Ajax too much freedom and space in the middle of the park. His slow movement, coupled with a lack of work ethic allowed the opposition to dominate the proceedings. It was even painful to watch the Belgian at times, due to his lack of work rate, both in attack and in defence.

Julian Brandt: 2/10

Julian Brandt was another liability for Dortmund, especially in possession phases. It became apparent that he was identified as a weak link in the BVB midfield, with Ajax players often doubling down on him. As a result, the midfielder conceded quite a few turnovers in the middle of the park.

Marco Reus: 4/10

Marco Reus had a poor game even if we exclude the early own goal that allowed Ajax to get their grip on the proceedings. The German international looked sloppy in possession, often lacking the energy or the vigour to make any difference in the final third.

Erling Haaland: 5/10

Erling Haaland arguably endured the worst game in a Dortmund shirt, simply because of the fact that he was actually given the opportunities to put his team back into the contest. But the Norwegian was denied by Pasveer on all occasions while his link-up play looked rather dismal, to say the least.

Donyell Malen: 3/10

It was yet another disappointing showing for Donyell Malen. The Dutchman simply lacks the defensive mentality and the anticipation while his attacking play is often predictable and quite one-dimensional. He was replaced by Thorgan Hazard less than ten minutes into the second half.

Substitutes

Emre Can: 2/10

Emre Can came on at the expense of Schulz at the start of the second half, and somehow made things even worse. He was deployed at left-back, where the former Liverpool midfielder struggled to keep up with Antony. His poor defending was key behind Ajax’s two second-half goals.

Thorgan Hazard: 3/10

Thorgan Hazard failed to make any impact whatsoever after coming on for Malen in the second half. He was often isolated and these are certainly not good signs for Dortmund.

Marin Pongracic: 6/10

Marin Pongracic came on during the final phase of the game to offer some solidity and freshness in the BVB backline. It was a change that should have been made at half-time.

Marius Wolf: 5/10

Marius Wolf offered the energy that was missing in the Dortmund game. But the former Frankfurt man lacked the quality to make any impact on the proceedings.

Ansgar Knauff: N/A

A late replacement for Brandt. Did not play enough to warrant a rating.

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