Best finish in 7 years?
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Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac misses the individual quality in his squad that helped Bayern Munich confidently become German champions this season. “What we are perhaps missing a little is what Bayern have in abundance: an incredibly strong squad with many special individualists,” said Kovac in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” about the difference between the two teams, which are separated by 15 points in the table and almost 500 million euros in terms of squad value.
“This season they are particularly successful in combining the attractive with the successful.” After two defeats in the last three games and a supposed lack of enthusiasm in the final spurt of the season, Kovac defended his team’s performance. “I’m very happy with the development the boys have made over the past 15 months; I think we’ve played very good and attractive games this season,” said the 54-year-old. “I trust my team to score 72 points – that would mean Borussia Dortmund would have become German champions in 2023. Unfortunately, this time they are not enough.”
Dortmund has its best score in seven years
In order to reach 72 points, Dortmund would have to get five more points from the last three games of the season. It would be Dortmund’s best season result in seven years. In the 2018/19 season, Borussia scored 76 points under coach Lucien Favre. On Sunday BVB will be visiting Borussia Mönchengladbach. The last two opponents are Eintracht Frankfurt (home game) and Werder Bremen (away).
In the eternal Dortmund mentality debate, Kovac drew a limit to his influence as a coach: “As a coach, you can lead a team with your team up to a certain point, beyond that the player decides.” The Berlin native, who has been BVB coach since February 2025 and still has a contract until June 2027, asks for patience in implementing his goals: “Jürgen Klopp also took three years as a coach here to get his first championship.”
