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Prandelli Under Pressure After Dortmund Pounds Galatasaray

23.10.2014 17:51

Borussia Dortmund, struggling against the odds in the domestic German Bundesliga, put on a virtuoso performance on Wednesday to wallop Galatasaray 4-0 in game three of the UEFA Champions League Group D at Türk Telekom Arena in Şişli. And this defeat will certainly increase the pressure on Galatasaray's under-fire Italian coach Cezare Prandelli. Dortmund, second in the German league last season, has not won a single game in its last five consecutive matches and currently sits in an unfamiliar 14th place -- one point from the relegation zone -- with only two wins in eight games. It is an undeniable truth that Galatasaray under Prandelli are no longer Lions, but lame lambs. However, Dortmund's horrendous form in the Bundesliga had given Galatasaray and everyone associated with the team a glimmer of hope ahead of Wednesday's home game. But that was mere illusion as the reality on the ground was a different story. French forward Pierre-Emerick Emiliani François Aubameyang scored twice, a

Borussia Dortmund, struggling against the odds in the domestic German Bundesliga, put on a virtuoso performance on Wednesday to wallop Galatasaray 4-0 in game three of the UEFA Champions League Group D at Türk Telekom Arena in Şişli. And this defeat will certainly increase the pressure on Galatasaray's under-fire Italian coach Cezare Prandelli.

Dortmund, second in the German league last season, has not won a single game in its last five consecutive matches and currently sits in an unfamiliar 14th place -- one point from the relegation zone -- with only two wins in eight games.

It is an undeniable truth that Galatasaray under Prandelli are no longer Lions, but lame lambs. However, Dortmund's horrendous form in the Bundesliga had given Galatasaray and everyone associated with the team a glimmer of hope ahead of Wednesday's home game.

But that was mere illusion as the reality on the ground was a different story. French forward Pierre-Emerick Emiliani François Aubameyang scored twice, and Borussia Dortmund exploited its horrendous defending to give Galatasaray a sound beating in perhaps one of its easiest Champions League matches ever.

“We were very efficient,” Dortmund captain Mats Hummels said. “We had two early chances and we scored from both of them, and then of course it's easier to play. We also wanted to play good defense and we did so.”

Galatasaray midfielder Hamit Altintop, who spent eight years playing in the Bundesliga, said: "I think we need to criticize ourselves if we are running 10 kilometers less than our opponents during a game at this level. We need to ask ourselves if we are doing the right moves on the pitch. You only achieve success if you really make an effort and struggle for it.”

Dortmund's third victory in as many matches cemented its lead atop Group D with nine points. Arsenal, which came from behind to beat Anderlecht 2-1 is second with six, while Anderlecht and Galatasaray have one each.

Aubameyang opened the scoring against Galatasaray in the sixth minute, when he tapped in a cross from Germany attacking midfielder Marco Reus and doubled the lead in the 18th with another simple strike from close range. Reus scored the third in the 41st by curling in a spectacular shot from more than 20 meters. Colombian striker Adrian Ramos added the fourth in the 83rd, one minute after coming on for Japanese Shinji Kagawa, who had set up Reus. All four goals came after terrible defending by Prandelli's men.

Fans' fears become reality

Galatasaray fans, as a matter of fact, had always looked askance at the coaching credentials of Prandelli -- a man kicked out by Italy for failing to lead the star-studded national team past the group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

And their fears were not unfounded because Prandelli has no system at all. Simply put, he doesn't really know what he is doing. The Italians invented catenaccio, or negative football, a tactical system with a strong emphasis on defense. Catenaccio in Italian means “door bolt,” which implies a highly organized and effective backline defense focused on nullifying opponents' attacks and preventing goal-scoring opportunities.

Prandelli's Galatasaray is the exact opposite of this Italian football philosophy because the team is completely defenseless. And the statistics speak for themselves: Galatasaray has played three Group D games, won none, drawn one, lost two, scored two goals and conceded nine.

On Wednesday there was no defender Aurelian Chedjou, no Felipe Melo, no Semih Kaya. The defenseless Galatasaray team was not only hapless, it was completely hopeless.

For the record: It was Galatasaray's defenselessness that enabled Turkish cellar-dweller and newcomer Balıkesirspor -- the team with the worst offense and worst defense in the land -- to beat the Lions 2-0 in week three on Sept. 20. And Galatasaray beat Fenerbahçe 2-1 last Saturday, not by its own merit, but because the Canaries were reduced to 10 men in the 53rd minute.

Prandelli on Wednesday opened a can of worms by alluding that winning the 20th Turkish league championship for Galatasaray and earning four stars was more important than the Champions League.

“We played against a strong Borussia Dortmund, with players who have performed together for a long time,” he said.

“We have to improve and our target, as I have always said, is success in the [domestic] league. … What brought me here is the four stars. Now we are second [in the league] and want to be champions. There are too many strong teams in the Champions League. Therefore, we want to be the [domestic] league champions and will exert every effort to make it happen,” he noted.

These comments are very likely to irritate Galatasaray fans, whose illustrious team has won the UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and played in the semifinals of the Champions Cup -- the predecessor of the UEFA Champions League.

Furthermore if Prandelli thinks that Galatasaray spends tens of millions of euros on transfers just to win the domestic league championship, then he is in the wrong job.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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