With the game on Friday evening in Bochum, Borussia Dortmund could present themselves in the championship fight against Bayern Munich. Do the nerves of the black and yellow hold up?
Actually everything sounds so simple: Borussia Dortmund “Only” has to on Friday evening at the start of the 30th matchday at Kellerkind VfL Bochum win – and it’s at least until Sunday when FC Bayern play Hertha – four points ahead for the black and yellow.
Doesn’t sound that difficult. After all, BVB is indisputably better staffed than VfL. And there have already been two successful games against Bochum this season. BVB won the first leg of the Bundesliga 3-0, and in February Dortmund managed a 2-1 win in Bochum in the DFB Cup.
Hunted BVB – just a matter of nerves?
They would like to have it again now – if only it were really that easy. But since last weekend – since the 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt with a simultaneous Bayern defeat in Mainz – BVB is not only the leader of the table, but also the hunted. And this role has not been particularly good for Borussia in the past. It was the nerves that often played tricks on the players.
That shouldn’t happen this time. “We go into the duel with a good portion of self-confidence,” said coach Edin Terzic at the press conference on Thursday. “We know that we still want to take five steps. But the most important step is always the next one and that is tomorrow.”
Everything looks to Donyell Malen
Regarding the constellation on the 30th match day, on which BVB has to submit, the coach said: “Thank God we head coaches are not allowed to schedule the match day yet. That’s why I’m busy with it in no time. It’s simply a matter of us doing the next tasks tackle it with an energy like we did last week and then it doesn’t matter if we play before or after.”
In terms of personnel, Dortmund can draw on plenty. Many eyes will also be on attacker Donyell Malen in Bochum. The Dutchman, who suffered from a mysterious lack of goals in the first half of the season, is in top form and has been scoring seemingly at will for the past few weeks. He has scored six goals in the last five games and prepared three more BVB goals.
Reus only on the bench
In addition, Coach Terzic has a whole handful of alternatives on the bench. The most prominent bench press at the moment is certainly Marco Reus, who has hardly been used recently. The 33-year-old is currently only second choice given the class performances of Malen, Sebastien Haller and Jule Brandt.
Schlotterbeck only failure
Recently, the defense finally showed itself to be solid again. Mats Hummels plays an important role here, but above all the defensive behavior of Dortmund’s midfielders. Especially Jude Bellingham, who was occasionally noticed after the winter break with negative body language and only hesitant defensive behavior, has improved significantly in the last few games. The importance of stabilizer and mentality player Emre Can has been well described.
In this way, BVB will also be able to absorb the expected loss of regular central defender Nico Schlotterbeck. With Niklas Süle, an internationally experienced sweeper is available here. So it shouldn’t be because of the staff. It’s actually just the nerves that could set a trap for BVB.
