Leverkusen surprised by "defensive" Dortmund: "Everyone was behind the ball"
The Bayer Leverkusen camp was surprised by Borussia Dortmund's defensive tactics in Sunday's match at the BayArena.
Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund played out a 1-1 draw on Sunday evening in a match in which the former largely sat back and defended after taking an early lead.
In a post-match interview, Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick expressed surprise at Dortmund's approach to the game.
"I have never seen Dortmund play like that. Everyone was behind the ball," Schick said.
Asked about a period early in the second half when Leverkusen gave the ball away easily on a couple of occasions, Granit Xhaka responded ironically:
"We just gave our opponents a bit of hope for a moment, so they thought they could do a bit more. But nothing came of it."
Leverkusen managing director for sport Simon Rolfes felt that Dortmund's defensive approach was also a consequence of his side's dominance.
"We expected them to be defensive," Rolfes said, adding:
"But the fact that they were so defensive was certainly also the result of our dominance and strength."