FIFA 18: Borussia Dortmund Career Mode Guide, player ratings, tactics, formations & tips

It was always going to be difficult after Jurgen Klopp left Borussia Dortmund in 2015, with the now Liverpool manager lifting two Bundesliga titles and a German Cup with the club. Thomas Tuchel looked to be a perfect replacement, with the club winning another German Cup in 2016. However, a disagreement with the board meant Tuchel left his post, and it’s been a bumpy ride since. Now on their second manager this season, Dortmund need stability, can you steady the ship and take BVB back to the top on FIFA 18’s Career Mode?

Team Rating

It’s a 4½ star rating for Dortmund on FIFA 18, which indicates their 81 overall score. This consists of 76 attack, 81 midfield and 82 defence.

Formation

Borussia Dortmund have plenty of pace up front and out wide, so you should go with some form of 4-3-3 formation. We’ve gone for a 4-3-3 Attack system, but if you want more protection, perhaps against the bigger teams, go for a 4-5-1. 

Roman Burki gets the nod in goal, and he has the reliable back four of Lukasz Piszczek, Sokratis, Omer Toprak and Raphael Guerreiro in front of him.

Gonzalo Castro partners the dangerous Mario Gotze (87 dribbling) in central midfield, with ex Manchester United man Shinji Kagawa just ahead of them.

Summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko comes in on the right-hand side, with the exciting Marco Reus (87 long shots) out wide on the left. On loan striker Michy Batshuayi leads following the sale of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal. 

On the bench, go for Roman Weidenfeller, Manuel Akanji, Marcel Schmelzer, Julian Weigl, Mahmoud Dahoud, Christian Pulisic and Andre Schurrle.

Tactics

With the amount of the pace in their side, you will want to be counter-attacking with this Dortmund team. Look to free up Marco Reus (88 sprint speed, 86 finishing) on the left side and strike at goal, with the left footed Andriy Yarmolenko able to cut in and shoot from the other flank. Look to utilise architects Mario Gotze and Shinji Kagawa (both 87 dribbling) from midfield, and if you can beat defenders with the pair, it will free up space for your forwards.

Training

Training is a great way to grow the abilities of your players, especially those who aren’t regular starters in the first team. To get the most out of your time, look to use high growth players, which include Christian Pulisic, Maximilian Phillip, Julian Weigl, Mahmoud Dahoud and Raphael Guerreiro at Dortmund.

The Transfer Market

Starting transfer budget: £47 million

Starting wage budget: £172,000 a week

Who should go

Dortmund have a fantastic squad, but they have a lot of players in the same position. This provides a great chance to boost your transfer budget, and bring in some more appropriate talent. 

Sebastian Rode finds himself behind Mario Gotze, Gonzalo Castro, Julian Weigl, Nuri Sahin and Mahmoud Dahoud in the pecking order, so there is no real need for the defensive midfielder at the club. With an overall of 78 and 80 potential, look to sell him for around £9 million, and free up £44,000 a week in your wage budget.

It’s a similar tale for Erik Durm, who is the third-choice left back at the club. Barring an injury crisis, you won’t need him so sell the 76-rated full back for £6 million. Selling the 25-year-old will save £42,000 a week in wages.

As for the younger players, it looks as if Dominik Reimann (OVR 61, POT 74), David Sauerland (OVR 56, POT 68) and Patrick Fritsch (OVR 55, POT 71) will not make the grade at the club. You should be able to sell all three for a combined £500,000, making a saving of £12,000 a week in wages.

Loans

After those sales, your squad may start to look a bit thin, so there is only one name you should consider loaning out, Jan Niklas Beste (OVR 59, POT 78). Send him on a short loan just in case of injuries. 

Who to sign

New transfer budget: £62.5 million

New wage budget: £270,000

Another strike option

On loan forward Michy Batshuayi is your only realistic choice up front at the moment, and if he were to get injured or if you want to rest him, you will either have to shoe-horn a winger in there or play youngster Alexander Isak (OVR 68, POT 84). Bringing in another forward would solve this and also give you the option of playing two up top if you need a goal in the closing stages.

Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik would solve this, and you can sign the Polish international for £30.1 million with wages of £62,000 a week. That will get you the 23-year-old’s 86 finishing, 83 shot power and 80 long shots, which make up his 79 overall and 86 potential.

Alternative options:

  • Alassane Plea – Nice, Age 24, OVR 79, POT 82, Cost: £28.7 million, Wage: £36,000
  • Max Kruse – Werder Bremen, Age 29, OVR 82, POT 82, Cost: £32.9 million, Wage: £41,000 
  • Florin Andone – Deportivo de La Coruna, Age 24, OVR 79, POT 84, Cost: £32.5 million, £27,000
  • Vincent Aboubakar – Porto, Age 25, OVR 80, POT 83, Cost: £34.7 million, Wage: £18,000
  • Paco Alcacer – Barcelona, Age 23, OVR 79, POT 85, Cost: £34.7 million, Wage: £132,000

Depth at centre back

With Dortmund selling both Marc Bartra and Neven Subotic in January, there is less depth in central defence. Manuel Akanji has arrived, but if there was an injury to your starting defensive pair, you would have to call on his 74 overall rating.

You need to find a new defender who can provide reliable back up and in an ideal word, become a regular starter. This fits Ajax defender Matthijs De Ligt perfectly, who is available for a snip at £16.9 million. The Dutch international is only 17 years’ old, but with a starting overall of 77 and a potential of 89, you can't afford to miss out on him. De Ligt offers stats of 84 strength, 83 shot power and 80 jumping, so be prepared to offer him more than his current wages of £6,000 a week. 

Alternative options:

  • German Conti – Colon, Age 22, OVR 77, POT 86, Cost: £18 million, Wage: £11,000
  • Wallace – Lazio, Age 22, OVR 77, POT 85, Cost: £19.2 million, Wage: £34,000
  • Andrea Barzagli – Juventus, Age 36, OVR 84, POT 84, Cost: £5 million, Wage: £92,000
  • Bastos – Lazio, Age 25, OVR 78, POT 83, Cost: £18 million, Wage: £38,000
  • Jannik Vestergaard – ‘Gladbach, Age 24, OVR 78, POT 83, Cost: £18.7 million, Wage: £26,000

Contracts

Five players have contracts running out at Dortmund, only one of which deserves a new deal. Jan Niklas Beste is a promising youngster and you'll want to see how he develops, so give him a fresh contract. 

As for Dominik Reimann, Roman Weidenfeller, Patrick Fritsch and David Sauerland, if you don’t sell them during the season you may as well release them at the end of their contracts.

Managerial objectives

The managerial objectives at Borussia Dortmund are tough, and you must bring your A game if you want to achieve them. The domestic success objectives are to win the Bundesliga and reach the semifinals of the German Cup.

Brand exposure is also of critical importance, and you'll need to gain £132 million from shirt sales over the season. If you maintain performances on the pitch, score with your big names and bring in hot talent, this will be sorted for you. Not only that, you will need to earn £130 million from prize money over three seasons, getting £10 million from a pre-season tournament would be a good start. 

Continental success has a high importance, and for this you will need to reach the Champions Cup semifinals. This will perhaps be your hardest task given Dortmund didn’t even get out of their Champions League group this season. 

For youth development, you will need to bring a player through the youth academy and play them in 50% of games the following season. Lastly, your financial goal is to increase club value by 20% within three seasons. If you maintain a year-on-year profit, and perform on the pitch this shouldn’t be a problem.

Back in for the Bundesliga

It will be an impressive achievement to win the Bundesliga with this Borussia Dortmund side, but earlier in the season it looked like BVB could compete for the title once again. They lost their momentum, but you have the chance to start again and try to overthrow rivals Bayern Munich for the title. If you start the season strong, rotate your side well so they are fresh for the big clashes, you have more than a chance of making history of your own. 

Full Borussia Dortmund squad player ratings

Player
A
Pos
Country
OVR
POT
V
W
Goalkeepers
Roman Burki
26
GK
Switzerland
82
85
£30.5m
£47k
Roman Weidenfeller
36
GK
Germany
76
76
£700k
£23k
Dominik Reimann
20
GK
Germany
61
74
£350k
£4k
Defenders
Sokratis
29
CB
Greece
86
86
£51.6m
£97k
Lukasz Piszczek
32
RB CB
Poland
83
83
£21.7m
£58k
Omer Toprak
27
CB
Turkey
82
83
£32.8m
£58k
Raphael Guerreiro
23
LB LM CM
Portugal
80
85
£25.8m
£46k
Marcel Schmelzer
29
LB LM CB
Germany
80
80
£16.5m
£56k
Erik Durm
25
LB RB RM
Germany
76
78
£8m
£42k
Jeremy Toljan
22
RB LB RM
Germany
75
81
£12.5m
£32k
Manuel Akanji
21
CB
Switzerland
74
86
£15m
£28k
Dan-Axel Zagadou
18
CB LB
France
68
83
£3.4m
£12k
Jan Niklas Beste
18
LB
Germany
59
78
£250k
£3k
Patrick Fritsch
18
CB
Germany
55
71
£120k
£3k
Midfielders
Marco Reus
28
LM ST LW
Germany
85
85
£58.3m
£86k
Shinji Kagawa
28
CAM CF
Japan
83
83
£38.9m
£66k
Mario Gotze
25
CM CAM CF
Germany
82
86
£43.7m
£60k
Gonzalo Castro
30
CM CDM RM
Germany
82
82
£30.7m
£63k
Julian Weigl
21
CDM CM
Germany
81
87
£35.1m
£41k
Nuri Sahin
28
CDM CM
Turkey
80
80
£18m
£56k
Mahmoud Dahoud
21
CM CDM
Germany
79
87
£30.9m
£46k
Andre Schurrle
26
LM ST LW
Germany
79
79
£20.2m
£58k
Sebastian Rode
26
CDM CM
Germany
78
80
£12m
£44k
David Sauerland
20
CM CAM LM
Germany
56
68
£120k
£5k
Attackers
Andriy Yarmolenko
27
RW RM
Ukraine
81
81
£27.7m
£63k
Michy Batshuayi
23
ST
Belgium
80
85
On Loan
£106k
Christian Pulisic
18
RW LW RM
USA
79
89
£30.9m
£38k
Maximilian Philipp
23
LW ST RW
Germany
78
83
£21.9m
£46k
Alexander Isak
17
ST
Sweden
69
84
£4.3m
£16k
Jadon Sancho
17
LW RW
England
64
86
£2.3m
£8k

A = Age

V =  Value

W = Wage

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