From: apa
Sturm Graz remains without a sense of success even after their fourth appearance in the Football Champions League. With last year's finalists Borussia Dortmund, Austria's champions successfully defended their draw for a long time in front of over 81,000 spectators on Tuesday evening, but had to admit defeat 0-1 after a late goal from Donyell Malen in the 85th minute. The Graz team had a good opportunity to take the lead through Mika Biereth around 20 minutes before the end.
After four games in the league phase, the Bundesliga leaders remain without points. Sturm continues with a home game, with Girona visiting Klagenfurt on November 27th. The Spaniards lost 4-0 to PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
Sturm traveled to the Ruhr area with great anticipation, but with a clear goal: the big name and the scenery shouldn't impress too much, emphasized players and coaches in unison before a real highlight in the club's history. Before kick-off, Ilzer saw not only the famous yellow wall, but also a “black wall” when looking at the stands. Over 6,000 Sturm fans are said to have accompanied their team – there have never been more away from home in the European Cup.
Jusuf Gazibegovic started on the left wing, Max Johnston took over the right part in full defense. Seedy Jatta should use his speed in the attack alongside Biereth and work on the opponent's thinned-out defense. The Dortmund team, plagued by many injuries, threw what felt like their last squad onto the field. Nuri Sahin only had six outfield players on the bench, most of them from the second team. Marcel Sabitzer was back as announced after the calf injury he suffered in the 2-1 win against Leipzig at the weekend.
After a minute's silence for the victims of the flood disaster in Spain, the game started strangely. Malick Yalcouye hit the onrushing Jamie Gittens lightly in the face immediately after kick-off and the Englishman went down. After a short break, things finally started. Sturm started to press, but it quickly became clear that the strong home team (five league wins, 7:1 against Celtic in CL) were not impressed. After just a few minutes, Sabitzer was completely free in the Graz penalty area when he received a header, but clearly missed the goal. Things should continue in the same key, Dortmund remained in control.
Sabitzer tested Kjell Scherpen again for the first time after a quarter of an hour with a shot into the near corner, and the Dutchman also parried Maximilian Beier's follow-up shot. Shortly afterwards, captain Otar Kiteishvili gave a sign of life for his team with Graz's first shot on goal. Sturm had overcome the first difficult phase after 20 minutes and tried to put pinpricks. Gazibegovic tried an artificial shot from a tight angle but narrowly missed the top corner (31').
The Graz team remained challenged defensively, with Scherpen providing solid support. A lot of effort was put into trying to close the center. Things got tricky twice before the half-time whistle. The ball bounced on Johnston's upper arm after a cross, but the Scot was not suspected to have intended it. Then Beier got into an ideal shooting position and Kiteishvili saved for his beaten keeper in front of the line (43'). Ilzer saw the ball coming out and received a yellow card for criticism.
For Jatta the game was over after 45 minutes, Bayern loanee Lovro Zvonarek took over. Little should change in the gameplay. Dortmund looked for the gap, but the decisive pass or compelling finish did not materialize. The UEFA statistics only showed three shots at the Graz goal after an hour; Sturm had one from Kiteishvili.
Niklas Geyrhofer came on for Johnston at Sturm, while Sabitzer came off the field for Malen at Dortmund. Sturm remained stable and even had a chance to take the lead through Biereth in the 71st minute. The Dane was unable to place his header from a Gazibegovic cross. Dortmund now had little line in the game. Just when the draw was looming, Emanuel Aiwu made a bad pass to Malen while playing out. Serhou Guirassy was just not offside; after his preparatory work, the Dutchman was there. Sturm no longer had an answer to that.
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