Come the end of the game in Dortmund, Mourinho was very upset with four of his best players: Pepe, Alonso, Khedira and Özil. The Portuguese manager believes that the individual performance of each of these players was far below potential and that the team crumbled due to failings in its main supporting pillar.
Pepe was given the opportunity to reclaim his position of starting centre-back: he failed. Lewandowski completely outfoxed him in the box for two of Borussia's goals, and came out on top in all types of duels, losing his marker at will and winning all aerial challenges.
Over and above the occasional mistake, Mourinho's disappointment in Pepe was his apparently philosophical attitude, which was a far cry from the aggressiveness, intensity and anticipation that made the Portuguese one of the best defenders in the world. Pepe finished the game without committing a single foul, as did Varane.
Mourinho had entrusted Alonso and Khedira with protecting his back line from Dortmund's counter-attacks through Reus, Götze and Blaszczykowski. They failed in their mission too, recovering the ball much less often than they usually do - Khedira eight times and Alonso just six.
Reus was roaming the area in front of Sergio at will, completely abandoned by Özil who never came back to help. Mourinho was also depending on Özil to inspire the team, but he didn't show enough glimpses of genius on the night, although the problem the coach will probably be more concerned about is his defensive laziness.
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