Borussia Dortmundvs
VillarrealSerhou Guirassy had one of those nights that remind you why Dortmund spent the pisto to bring him in. Two goals in five minutes — one from open play, one from the spot — and the BVB Stadion was ready to celebrate. Then came the 93rd minute, and suddenly everyone was biting their nails again.
The match turned on a sequence of misfortune and individual quality that made a 3-2 scoreline feel entirely earned by both sides. Our pre-match read had Dortmund as 53% favorites, and they came through — but not without a fight.
The first hour was scoreless, then the game woke up
For 52 minutes, neither side could find a way through. Dortmund had the edge in possession and created more chances — 18 shots to Villarreal's 13 by the final whistle — but the visiting defense held firm and the game felt stuck. Then Renato Veiga, in the 53rd minute, turned the ball into his own net and Villarreal had the lead without really earning it.
Credit to the Yellow Submarine: they didn't sit on it. Santiago Mouriño extended the advantage in the 66th minute, getting on the end of a Georges Mikautadze delivery to head home and make it 2-0. Qué cabezazo. Dortmund, suddenly two down on their own turf, looked genuinely rattled.
The card situation hadn't helped the visitors' discipline either. Pau Navarro and Sergi Cardona had both been booked before halftime — at 38' and 42' respectively — leaving Villarreal's backline walking a tightrope through the second half.
Guirassy takes over
Fábio Silva changed things when he set up Guirassy in the 80th minute for Dortmund's first real goal of the night. Suddenly it was 2-1, the stadium was loud, and Villarreal looked nervous. Five minutes later, a penalty. Guirassy stepped up, converted, and just like that it was level — and then, moments after, Dortmund had turned it around entirely.
Wait. Let me back up: the penalty was the third Dortmund goal, making it 3-2 at the 85th minute. Mouriño picked up a second yellow right around that stretch, though the damage was already done by then.
El trabajo de Guirassy in that ten-minute window was the whole match distilled — composed, clinical, and exactly when his team needed it most.
The nervy finish
Dortmund fans barely had time to exhale. In the third minute of stoppage time, Guirassy — of all people — turned the ball into his own net to hand Villarreal a lifeline. The same man who'd won the game nearly gave it away. The final whistle came before Villarreal could do anything with it, but the margin could easily have been different.
Both goalkeepers made five and four saves respectively, and the 90-plus minutes of equal pass accuracy (90% each) tells you this was a competitive, closely-contested game that the scoreline slightly flatters Dortmund on.
Dortmund will feel good about the three points — their form reads WWWLL coming in, and this keeps the winning run alive in Europe. Villarreal, on the back of two straight losses before this, will feel the road only gets harder from here. The question now is whether they can find any consistency before the group stage slips away from them.
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