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Achraf Hakimi played the full 90 in Dortmund’s 4 - 0 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night, recording three assists at the Westfalenstadion.
Hakimi, for the second consecutive game for Dortmund, started as the left-back, and given that Marcelo’s back-up position is in need of a solid presence in Real Madrid, fans will be intrigued to see how Achraf’s development as a left-back continues. Of course, if you watch Morocco enough, you know this is not a new experiment, but certainly at the club level it’s not a regular thing.
And, as he generally has this season, he looked great offensively.
Given Atleti’s deep positioning in the first half, Achraf spent a lot of time in the final third. He created constant overloads, and though he didn’t get the ball on every offensive sequence, he made it a point to get in ball-winning positions for his team immediately:
Achraf, who had a couple bad moments, if we’re nitpicking (he was burned by Juanfran once defensively, which is like the equivalent of having your soul on fire; and did take the ball away from Marco Reus as the German was about to pull the trigger on a clear-cut chance), was causing Atletico headaches all night with his pace. He even acted as a ball-carrier to get Dortmund high up the pitch quickly:
Achraf slung the first three assists of this match, and with each one, Atleti opened up more and more in search of a goal. By the time Hakimi’s third assist came around, he was ripping into Atletico. The assists, in chronological order:
Ladies and Gentleman... Axel Witsel is #wonderfull #BVB #UCL #BVBATL pic.twitter.com/ZaWzxrS738
— Borussia Dortmund News (@bvbnewscom) October 24, 2018
Borussia Dortmund showing us the beautiful game at its best Raphaël Guerreiro puts the finishing touch on a wonderful attack to go up 2-0
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) October 24, 2018
Watch the final minutes NOW on #BRLive: https://t.co/9OPNEzdzE2 pic.twitter.com/wt6fLFQKID
A first Champions League goal for Jadon Sancho Only last season he was scoring in the UEFA Youth League, now he’s scoring in the real thing! #englishabroad #BVBAtleti #ucl pic.twitter.com/HASdyBfAry
— English Players Abroad (@EnglishAbroad1) October 24, 2018
Achraf, along with his three assists, finished the match with a team-high 94 touches and four key passes.
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