Newly 23-year-old birthday boy Carney Chukwuemeka was one of four new faces in the starting lineup, the others being Ramy Bensebaini, Joey Veerman and Fabio Silva. The quartet started in place of Maxi Bier, Joane Gadou, Jobe Bellingham and Ethan Nwaneri, all of whom moved to the bench. In addition, Head Coach Niko Kovac changed the tactical approach, switching to two strikers (Guirassy & Fabio Silva) and to a 3-2-3-2 formation, with Chukwuemeka playing centrally behind the forwards and Felix Nmecha frequently pushing up from the double pivot.
In the fifth minute, Serhou Guirassy set up his strike partner with a through ball. Fabio Silva won the footrace against Zedadka but couldn’t beat the goalkeeper. Seconds later, the Portuguese then tried his luck with an effort from the edge of the penalty area.
Borussia started out strong (69% possession) and took the lead with its fourth shot of the contest. The play that led to the opening goal was initiated by Nico Schlotterbeck's excellent switch to Julian Ryerson on the right wing. Ryerson found Chukwuemeka, who combined with Fabio Silva and kept his composure in the penalty area, managing to lay the ball off to Nmecha. The Germany international's powerful shot from 16 meters (roughly 17.5 yards out) was parried by Sabah goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov and fell right to the feet of Guirassy, who pounced on the chance from five meters (roughgly 5.5 yards) out, scoring his 22nd Champions League goal (10').
Pokatilov made a difficult save to stop Joey Veerman’s free kick from exactly 16 meters out (24'), helping bring Boruissia's xG after half an hour to 2.15 and its lead in the shot count to 9-3. However, the Black & Yellow were not mistake-free on defense, as they were rescued by a narrow offside decision that wiped away Joy-Lance Mickels’ equalizer. The attacker had found the back of the net following an impressive solo run by Parris (30'). Nine minutes later, the ball found it's way into the goal again, and this time the leveler would stand. Puchacz delivered a free kick into the six-yard box, where center back Aden McCarthy outjumped several Borussia players and sent an unsoppable close-range header past Gregor Kobel for 1-1. Kobel then kept his team from heading into the halftime break trailing, his saves denying Simic (42') and Parris (45').
1,800 Black & Yellow traveling supporters were among the officially announced crowd of 55,000. They were able to celebrate their side reclaiming the lead in the 52nd minute. Guirassy skillfully converted an outstanding cross from Veerman, who put it on a platter from the right side of the attack. Guirassy reached for the ball with his outstretched left leg, skillfully volleying it over the line. From that point forward, Dortmund controlled the game and manged to create a few promising looks inside the opposition penalty area. However, the visitors also narrowly escaped another scare inside their own box. After an errand pass by Schlotterbeck, a chipped ball found Mbina, who fired wide of the target — thanks in part to a slight nudge from behind by Daniel Svensson (75').
Shortly before that key play, Niko Kovac had made a triple substitution, with Bellingham, Sabitzer and Gadou offering fresh legs and allowing Nmecha, Chukwuemeka and Bensebaini to get some early rest after the tiring travel of the previous two days. Shortly after, Beier would replace Svensson (77').
The Borussia players, who were wearing all-yellow kits for the game in Baku, were made to work hard for the win. The meeting with the reigning Azerbaijani champion remained on a knife's edge as Dortmund conceded more and more possession to the opposition. Nonetheless, the victory would be a well-deserved one, given the final shot count of 22–12.
SABAH FC vs. Borussia Dortmund 1-2 (1-1 at half)
UEFA Champions League, Matchday 3
Sabah: Pokatilov – Zedadka, Solvet, McCarthy, Puchacz – Rakhmonaliev (81’ Khaybulayev), Lepinjica – Parris (65’ Mbina), Du Queiroz (65’ Isaev), Simic – Mickels (81’ Nwachukwu)Bench: Mirzammadov, Ramazanov; Dashdamirov, Almeida, Mutallimov, Fernandes, Severina, Aliyev
BVB: Kobel – Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini (72' Gadou) – Ryerson, Veerman, Nmecha (72' Bellingham), Svensson (77' Beier) – Chukwuemeka (72' Sabitzer) – Guirassy, Fabio Silva (90'+1 Nwaneri)Bench: Drewes, Meyer; Mane, Reggiani, dos Santos, Albert, InacioUnavailable: Can (torn ACL), Karetsas (ankle), Konstantelias (torn ACL), Lerma (muscle injury)