PLAYER RATINGS | Dortmund 1-1 Lille: Hákon Arnar Haraldsson strike secures stalemate in Germany | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League, Round 16, 04/03/2025

Lille OSC travelled to the Signal Iduna Park to face a Borussia Dortmund team that have begun to make steady progress since  Nuri Sahin was replaced by Niko Kovac. Bruno Génésio had warned that his Les Dogues were the underdogs, but that is exactly the way they’ve liked it in the Champions League as they battled to a 1-1 draw in Germany.

The Match

The two sides set a frenetic pace in the opening exchanges. Control of the ball shifted quickly between the yellow shirts of Dortmund and the white of Lille. Benjamin André clattered a shot towards the Gregor Kobel’s goal, but it couldn’t find a route past the packed box.

The hosts would soon settle into the game. An attack from the Champions League’s top scorer Serhou Guirassy flashed danger, but ultimately it was off-target. Not long after Karim Adeyemi danced down the right of the pitch earning his team a corner.

The resulting set piece would find its way back to the feet of Adeyemi. The winger was perched far outside of the box. However, the ball seemed drawn to him, and with a first-time strike sent it whistling into the bottom left corner.

Once again, Dortmund had the goal in the back of the net in the last play before the end of the first half as Pascal Groß tucked away a scrambled corner. However, it was correctly deemed offside by the assistant referee. Still, the danger was clear to see and needed to be addressed.

Lille entered the second half with a far more patient approach. They looked to slowly work their way up the field and the reward was that Jonathan David, who had been a spectator for the first half, was finally brought into the game.

The striker’s involvement gave Lille an edge that had been missing throughout. He was able to draw fouls, and the game took a physical edge as Dortmund looked to outmuscle the white shirts. David was the difference, his hooked pass finding Hákon Arnar Haraldsson who poked his shot past Kobel.

Twenty minutes were still left to play but neither side could find the winning goal which would give them the edge going into a delicately poised second-leg. Lille will be the happier of the two teams coming away from the Yellow Wall unscathed to settle the matter at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Lille Player Ratings

Lucas Chevalier – 5

Ismaily – 5

Tough task for the fullback who was asked to defend against Karim Adeyemi. He looked at times overwhelmed in the first half when the Dortmund winger was at full sprint. However, it was a better performance from the entire team in the second period, which helped his performance. He looked exhausted late in the second half when he was replaced by Gabriel Gudmundsson.

Alexsandro – 6

Bafodé Diakité – 5

Thomas Meunier – 6

Benjamin André – 8

Ayyoub Bouaddi – 6

Ngal’ayel Mukau – 5

Hákon Arnar Haraldsson – 7

Ethan Mbappé – 5

The surprise name on the teamsheet at the start of the evening. The midfielder had started in the 4-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain over the weekend, and he was called into action tonight as the right winger. He impressed in the opening exchanges and looked dynamic, but his influence quickly faded. He was outmuscled often and his crosses looked scattershot. Replaced by Mathis Fernandez Pardo midway through the second half.

Jonathan David – 7

A very forgettable first half from the striker who ghosted around the pitch completely uninvolved. Lille took the half-time break to reset and come out with a better plan and this helped David exert some control on the game. The striker dropped deeper when needed and contributed in the build-up, but he also used his skills as the focal point to attack the Dortmund backline.

Borussia Dortmund Selected Player Ratings

Emre Can – 5

Karim Adeyemi – 7

Serhou Guirassy – 5

A quiet night from this season’s Champions League top scorer on his reunion with his former team. He had one exceptional moment to open the scores but after that chance, his influence waned while another striker’s seemed to only grow.

GFFN | Nick Hartland