On an evening like Tuesday, Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park is just as special as they say, maybe even more so. It’s a huge flood of unfettered emotion, impossible to honestly explain if you’re not in it, and pointless to resist if you’re in it.
After the drunken revelry of that Champions League victory over Atlético Madrid, a reality check might have been necessary, and my god, this was it. Granted, they almost became the first team to beat Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga this season, but Josip Stanisic’s header in the seventh minute of stoppage time salvaged a draw for the newly crowned champions, with Xabi Alonso unleashing his inner Mourinho to attack . on the sidelines and join the bundle for the celebrating away fans.
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This is what Alonso’s team does. Stanisic’s goal was Leverkusen’s 20th goal in the 86th minute or later this season. Their wave is something you know is coming, but you can rarely stop, talk about tidal waves. They have become unavoidable.
Everything Dortmund did compared to Leverkusen was so approximate. It was an example of why the team that came close to wresting the Bundesliga title from Bayern Munich last year is so far from the standards of the Leverkusen team that did so this season, with plenty of room to spare. A case study on the difference between playing with a purpose and playing with a goal. There is plenty of gossip in Dortmund, but it is difficult to determine a strategy.
“It wasn’t what we planned,” complained Edin Terzic, who also said his team was “too passive.” As Mats Hummels shouted and hit the ball back towards the halfway line after Stanisic’s goal, the frustration was palpable and far too familiar. This encounter against unusually good opponents had a lot in common with the rest of Dortmund’s unsatisfactory season.
So Dortmund press on, not entirely free from the chaos that envelops them, but sparing the worst. Losing points to these imperious champions wasn’t as costly as it could have been, despite fourth-placed RB Leipzig winning again, with the Bundesliga’s overwhelmingly successful European week reaping the harvest of a fifth Champions League place for next season made it a probability rather than a possibility. . BVB are all but assured of a place in the top five ahead of next week’s seemingly crucial trip to Leipzig.
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We should not underestimate the power of Dortmund’s performance in the Champions League, for better or for worse. Reaching the semi-finals and nights like the victory over Atlético cannot and should not be ignored. They are what the fans live and breathe for. What they should not be is a placebo, a reason to ignore everything that needs to be repaired, the fireworks that make you forget that the garden gate is falling over and that there is a hole in the attic roof. The danger is that these moments in Dortmund are so powerful that you forget the mistakes.
There will be changes at board level, especially before the planned departure of CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke in 2025. The upcoming return of Sven Mislintat should bring clarity to the picture, but actually only raises further questions. Even leaving aside BVB’s mixed successes in bringing back additional staff to the playing staff, there is little in the former sporting director’s recent work (particularly his fraught spell at Ajax) to suggest he is the right person is to bring acumen and direction to Dortmund. .
The reports in the regional press immediately after the Atléti game inevitably suggested that a managerial change for next season was now no longer a topic of discussion, but that Dortmund must decide what they want to become. Do they give in to the emotion that has become their brand, or are they willing to rethink and partially reinvent themselves while still holding tight to their sense of self? This latest approach has allowed Leverkusen to achieve what they have achieved this season.
A club with a significantly smaller budget compared to Dortmund has produced a team that dominated in Dortmund even after a demanding week at home and abroad, even without an orthodox striker on the pitch and their star player Wirtz on the bench. There is ambition, but crucially: there is also clarity of thought. If the next few weeks are big for Dortmund and Terzic, the summer might be even bigger.
Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Augsburg
Wolfsburg 1-0 Bochum
Cologne 0-2 Darmstadt
Hoffenheim 4-3 Borussia Monchengladbach
Heidenheim 1-2RB Leipzig
Union Berlin 1-5 Bayern Munich
Werder Bremen 2-1 Stuttgart
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Freiburg 1-1 Mainz
Discussion points
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Bayern, boosted by their Champions League victory over Arsenal in midweek, look full of the joys of spring just a week after relinquishing their title, overcoming initial resistance from Union Berlin to emerge 5-1 winners to compete in an area that has caused them problems in the competition. past. There is still uncertainty going forward, despite Julian Nagelsmann having ruled himself out of returning to Germany (“a choice of the heart”). Sports director Max Eberl emphasized after Saturday’s victory that Bayern is “on the verge” of appointing Thomas Tuchel’s successor.
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Leipzig have now won six of their last seven Bundesliga games (the other drawn) to maintain their lead ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Dortmund. Loïs Openda’s late winner took him to 23 goals in the Bundesliga this season, an achievement for a player whose club record €43 million fee left many questioning the club’s decision-making last summer.
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Wolfsburg eventually secured a victory under Ralph Hasenhüttl, with Jonas Wind’s smart finish beating Bochum for just their second win this calendar year, and their first at home since November, moving them four points above the visitors, who are in the relegation play-off places to stand. When asked about leaving out big money signings such as Lovro Majer and Joakim Mæhle, Hasenhüttl pointed to the power of the collective. “We may not have the most beautiful trees,” he said, “but when you put them together, it is the most beautiful forest.”
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If it’s any relief for Die Wölfe, things are looking bleak for Cologne after a miserable 2-0 home defeat to wooden spooners Darmstadt, and they now sit five points behind the relative safety of the relegation play-off place. This loss felt like a turning point, with fans turning against director Christian Keller for the first time. Keller admitted on Sunday during the Doppelpass on Sport1 that the selection would be “significantly reduced” in the event of relegation, despite an ongoing transfer ban.
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Pos |
Team |
P |
GD |
Ptn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Bayer Leverkusen |
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|
2 |
Bayern Munich |
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|
3 |
Stuttgart |
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|
4 |
RB Leipzig |
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|
5 |
Borussia Dortmund |
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|
6 |
Eintracht Frankfurt |
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|
7 |
Freiburg |
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|
8 |
Augsburg |
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|
9 |
Hoffenheim |
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|
10 |
Heidenheim |
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|
11 |
Werder Bremen |
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|
12 |
Borussia M’gladbach |
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|
13 |
Wolfsburg |
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14 |
Union Berlin |
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|
15 |
Mainz |
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|
16 |
VfL Bochum |
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|
17 |
Cologne |
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|
18 |
Darmstadt |