3 things we learned as Benfica stunned Borussia Dortmund 1-0

Tuesday was a day of surprising results in the Champions League, and Benfica joined the party by staging a 1-0 upset over Borussia Dortmund, riding an early second half goal from Kostas Mitroglou to victory in a match that left Dortmund players, coaches, and fans alike shaking their head in frustration.

Borussia Dortmund started the match in full control of the proceedings, using a significant advantage in midfield quality and in sheer pace to pin Benfica back and get into the final third at will. But some poor decisions and even worse execution at the hosts’ end of the pitch meant that Dortmund couldn’t use their advantages to their fullest, and Benfica were able to slow their way to getting to halftime with the match still scoreless.

That opened up a chance for Benfica to come out swinging and knock Dortmund down a peg, and that’s exactly what they did. They came out playing much quicker than they had at any point in the first half, throwing BVB’s defense into disarray and giving them the chance to score off an early set piece — a chance they took full advantage of in the 48th minute, with Mitroglou finding space in a shoddy set-piece defense setup from Dortmund and heading home with ease.

That goal would be all Benfica needed to see out the win, though Dortmund would nearly score twice in the next 10 minutes, only for the normally reliable Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to mess up both times, one from a horrid finish from open play, and one with one of the worst penalty attempts we’ve seen in the Champions League so far this season. Even an excellent performance off the bench from young USMNT star Christian Pulisic wasn’t enough for Dortmund to find a goal as they sunk to a deeply disappointing loss.

The end result is a fantastic one for Benfica, and it actually gives them a real chance to advance in this tie. They’ll have to be even better in the second leg to keep Dortmund from getting their revenge, but they have a much better chance than anyone expected coming into the day, and that’s all that Benfica or their fans can ask for right now.

Benfica: Ederson; Nélson Semedo, Luisão, Vicotr Lindelöf, Eliseu; Ljubomir Fejsa, Pizzi; Toto Salvio, Rafa Silva (Franco Cervi 67’), Konstantinos Mitroglou (Raul Jimenez 75’), Andre Carrillo (Felipe Augusto 46’)

Goals: Mitroglou (48’)

Borussia Dortmund: Ramon Bürki; Lukasz Piszczek, Sokratis, Marc Bartra; Eric Durm, Raphael Guerreiro (Gonzalo Castro 82’), Julian Weigl, Marcel Schmelzer; Ousmane Dembélé, Marco Reus (Christian Pulisic 82’); Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (André Schürrle 62’)

Goals: None

BVB were very good at controlling possession in the match, largely dictating play and getting into Benfica’s half of the pitch and even into the final third almost at will. But once they got into the final third, they struggled badly, consistently taking one or two touches too many and giving Benfica the time they needed to shut the chances down. When Dortmund did get a chance put together in front of goal, they were about half a beat off from one another and those chances went to waste.

That lack of clinical play in front of goal probably won’t cost Dortmund too heavily in this tie once they get back to Germany, but it cost them this game and if they want to be a real contender in the Champions League they need to figure out what’s going wrong there. It’s been holding them back in the Bundesliga as well, but you get a lot less room for error on the Champions League stage than you do in any domestic league.

While Benfica did very well to keep Dortmund at bay, when they got on the ball their biggest weakness was exposed in a bad way: they are very, very slow. Their lack of pace kept them from taking advantage of the various counter-attacking opportunities they had during the match, and in the first half it looked like it would doom them to defeat.

Then the halftime whistle blew, and Rui Vitoria started tinkering with his team. Off went Andre Carrillo, who had been deeply disappointing for most of the match, and on came Filipe Augusto, who slid into the middle to help link play better through midfield while Rafa Silva took over out wide. That change helped Benfica start moving the ball quicker, making up for their lack of pace by switching the ball continuously to keep Dortmund off balance. That directly helped to set up a set-piece opportunity just two minutes into the second half, one that Mitroglou scored from thanks to some poor defending.

That kind of adjustment isn’t one that many managers would make, but it was that one that Vitoria needed to make, and it was the exact right response to the situation at hand on the pitch. That’s how you win games as the underdog on this level, and that’s how Benfica can keep themselves as a threat even when they’re outclassed and outpaced by the teams around them.

Now, Aubameyang was far from the only Dortmund player to struggle in the final third. Ousmane Dembélé and Marco Reus had their own issues, but this is a match that Aubameyang will never ever want to see a scrap of footage from.

Normally lethal on the ball, Aubameyang had issues finding the right runs, was dreadful trying to link play to his fellow attackers, and was too easy for Luisão to mark out at times. And that’s not even touching on his finishing, which was the worst aspect of his game on Tuesday. He badly whiffed on three excellent scoring chances for Dortmund, and then when they had a chance to equalize from the penalty spot just before the hour mark, he shot tamely and right down the middle for Ederson to palm away.

It was an unquestionably terrible performance for the usually excellent striker, and no one was really surprised when Thomas Tuchel took him off five minutes later for André Schürrle. Aubameyang didn’t deserve to stay on the pitch after how dreadful he had been, and he’s going to have to look long and hard at this performance to figure out just what went wrong.