BVB share: Champions League virtually secured after goal festival

“Great weather, great atmosphere, that was fun and great. It’s a great feeling that people are going home so happy,” said the coach after Borussia Dortmund (BVB) made it 6-1 (5-0) against the VfL Wolfsburg: “Today it doesn’t make any sense to talk about individual players. Except for Tom Rothe, and he doesn’t want that.”

The 17-year-old, who started the goal festival with the goal in the 24th minute on his unexpected Bundesliga debut, was indeed one of the stories of the game in which Dortmund led as high at the break as never before in a Bundesliga home game. “Not too bad,” said the teenager, laughing as he saw his header hit on screen during the Sky interview. He no longer needs Easter presents: “I’m happy with the game. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to collecting eggs with the family.”

While BVB can only theoretically gamble away the Champions League participation with a twelve-point lead and a significantly better goal difference in four games, it became cruelly clear to the Wolfsburg team that they are not yet saved despite at least five points ahead of the relegation place.

“In the first half it was a desolate performance in all respects that a football game requires,” said coach Florian Kohfeldt: “A blow to the neck was enough to throw us off track. And unfortunately the problem is not new. We Now we have to focus on getting the two wins we need.”

After Rothe’s opening goal, Axel Witsel (26th) and Manuel Akanji (28th) quickly followed up. Emre Can (35th) and Haaland twice (38th/54th) scored the other goals. For Haaland, this ended an unusual dry spell of almost three months, five appearances and 384 minutes of play without a goal. Wolfsburg’s Ridle Baku (82nd) ​​finally prevented the third 0-6 defeat in Wolfsburg’s Bundesliga history after those in Munich in 2017 and 2019.

The Dortmund fans among the 79,200 spectators shouted their last names fervently when the line-up was read out. At number 36, some hesitated briefly, first looked at the scoreboard and then hesitantly called out “Rothe”. The U19 national player had never been in the Bundesliga squad until Saturday. The absence of Raphael Guerreiro and the fact that Nico Schulz was apparently not quite fit flushed the left-back straight into the starting XI. Rothe is only the eighth youngest debutant in Dortmund Bundesliga history, but the youngest defender. His goal made him the fourth youngest Bundesliga goalscorer.

BVB was almost caught off guard, but goalkeeper Gregor Kobel made a strong save from three meters against Lukas Nmecha (3rd). After that, only Dortmund, who were actually weakened by replacements, played. After the 0:1 Wolfsburg completely lost orientation, BVB got into a frenzy and added four goals in less than 14 minutes.

BVB last scored five goals before the break nine years ago in a 6-1 win in Fürth. This time it initially seemed to become even clearer when Haaland scored for the second time. And if Casteels hadn’t held up well a few times, it would have ended even worse for Wolfsburg. The consolation goal was made possible by a blunder by Marin Pongracic, who was loaned out by Wolfsburg.

Haaland scores again before Bayern hit

For the fight for the title to flare up, Dortmund’s goal-seeking comes too late. At least as a fun brake at the planned championship celebration of FC Bayern, BVB could still be good. Especially since top scorer Erling Haaland reported back in time for the summit next weekend. “He’s not pain-free, but you could see that he tolerates the pain very well,” said coach Marco Rose: “It’s getting better and better.”

In the 6-1 (5-0) goal festival against VfL Wolfsburg, the Norwegian first watched the others score goals. He then latched on to make it 5-0 and ended his dry spell of around 400 minutes, the longest of his BVB time. Euphoric, he made it 6-0 and stayed on the pitch for 90 minutes despite his ankle problems and the game, which was quickly decided after Dortmund’s highest half-time lead in their own stadium.

Before the game, Rose had caused astonishment with statements about Haaland’s fitness. Even in my own club. “A bit unhappy” said the Dortmund license player boss and soon-to-be sports director Sebastian Kehl publicly. “Something must have broken in the foot,” Rose said. But you “can’t push the boy into the tube if he doesn’t want to. He bites his teeth, then maybe takes a pill before the game and then it should work.” It worked amazingly well – even away from the goals. “He played very well, gave us a lot of depth, was very present as a wall player and did a great job of scoring the second goal,” praised the coach.

However, it seems clear that Saturday’s appearance in Munich will be Haaland’s fourth-to-last in the BVB shirt. And that it’s not a prelude for Bayern. Munich’s CEO Oliver Kahn admitted in the Sport1 “double pass” that the 21-year-old was being dealt with. But also made it clear that the package of transfer fee and salary is “very, very far from what we imagine. These are financial dimensions that are beyond our imagination.” So Haaland, whose move to Manchester City seems to be taking shape, will probably play against Bayern for the last time on Saturday. That can also be a motivation.

The entire club is motivated not to want to watch Bayern finalize their tenth title in a row and celebrate the championship. In any case, Rose is hoping for a season finale with a lot of spectacle due to the interim goal frenzy against Wolfsburg with five goals in less than 14 minutes. “It was really fun and felt great,” he said. “There was a great atmosphere. It should become a kind of drug to always have this mood.” In addition, Dortmund can play a little more freely, because qualification for the Champions League has only been mathematically at risk since Saturday.

The mood in Wolfsburg, on the other hand, is at its lowest point again. “In the first half it was a desolate performance in all respects that a football game requires,” said coach Florian Kohfeldt: “It’s not possible, it was catastrophic. A blow to the neck was enough to throw us off track. And Unfortunately, the problem is not new.”

That’s exactly why the coach – after all 21 Bundesliga games in office – has to collect plus points for himself in addition to the two wins to ensure relegation before the season analysis is due. “Everything after the 1-0 was not suitable for the Bundesliga,” said sports director Marcel Schäfer: “Such a performance is not worthy of VfL Wolfsburg.”

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DORTMUND (dpa-AFX)

Image sources: 360b / Shutterstock.com, ninopavisic / Shutterstock.com