Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Anderlecht against the big boys

It is always special to go to a Champions League match, where the football quality is so high and the atmosphere electric. This was certainly the case today in a beautiful evening in Brussels for the match between the home side Anderlecht and the German giants Borussia Dortmund.
Anderlecht were understandably full of expectations after a flying start to the season and a good away result in Turkey against Galatasaray. The many injuries for Borussia Dortmund perhaps added to the expectations, but truth was that the young Anderlecht side today faced a side that was world class.
It is a joy to watch such a team play, and I greatly enjoyed seeing the speed, movement and technique of a team like Dortmund. I was particularly impressed about Shinji Kagawa distributing the balls, Pierre Emerick Aubemeyang and Ciro Immobile as eternal threats (Immobile scored the first goal on great combinations with Kagawa), and in defense, the great Neven Subotic.
That said, I have a soft spot for Anderlecht, and would have liked to see them do well against the giants. And in fact, they did not do bad; Dortmund were simply much better. The score of 0-3 was perhaps too much, with Anderlecht also having a few big chances, but truth is that just a few mistakes and lapses will not be forgiven by a team like Borussia Dortmund.
The German side should also be considered as a candidate to get far in the tournament.

The best were the fans: the Anderlecht fans were full of expectations and displayed a large banner at the start of the match, and supported their team well even when behind. At the same time the Dortmund fans were simply amazing. It must be such a boost of energy for the players to have supporters like that! I now wish more than before, that I can someday go and experience a match in Dortmund!


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