A transfer offensive is not expected at runner-up Borussia Dortmund during the winter break.
“The focus is actually on the summer, but we will wait and see how things develop in the next few weeks,” said sports director Sebastian Kehl on DAZN on the sidelines of the Bundesliga top game against Bayer Leverkusen. A large part of the transfer proceeds from the sale of Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid have already been reinvested. Kehl referred to the signing of national soccer striker Niclas Füllkrug on the last day of the transfer window.
Kehl also has the three U17 world champions Paris Brunner, Almugera Kabar and Charles Herrmann on the bill for the future. “We keep an eye on the boys, we support them and have development plans for them. These are important building blocks for the future of Borussia Dortmund. We always want to bring players from our NLZ into the professional sector. That’s part of our philosophy,” said Kehl .
BVB bulwark lasts 74 minutes: Boniface saves Leverkusen’s series
When Dortmund coach Edin Terzic talked to referee Daniel Siebert for a long time, his counterpart Xabi Alonso had already come to terms with the draw in the top game. For a long time, the unbeaten league leaders Bayer Leverkusen couldn’t find a way to counter Borussia’s defensive bulwark, but in the end they managed to score a 1-1 (0-1) thanks to Victor Boniface. The striker equalized in the 79th minute and saved the Werkself from their first defeat in the 20th game of the season.
But Terzic was more upset about a missed penalty after an alleged foul on Karim Adeyemi. “For me there are no two opinions. This is a clear contact, this is a clear penalty. We were deprived of the great opportunity to make it 2-0. We discuss the VAR week after week, we discuss clear ones Wrong decisions, handball, foul play and so on. That completely upsets me. That’s not fair,” Terzic said in outrage at DAZN.
As a result of the draw, Bayer remains the main rival in the Bundesliga title fight of series champions FC Bayern Munich, who now have three points less after their canceled game against 1. FC Union Berlin. However, Bayer gave up points again for the first time after 14 competitive game wins in a row.
“I’m rather dissatisfied. Of course, I’m still happy that we took at least one point. If you look at the whole game, we would have hoped for more. In the end we have to take the point and check it off,” said Leverkusen national player Florian Wirtz at DAZN .
Dortmund takes the lead early
The Norwegian full-back Julian Ryerson (5th) gave Dortmund an early lead five days after the 3-1 coup in the Champions League at top Italian club AC Milan. BVB’s defensive bulwark, organized by the once again outstanding Mats Hummels, lasted 74 minutes, then Boniface scored. Dortmund is still ten points behind Leverkusen.
“It’s a bit bitter. Leverkusen definitely had more of the game, but we led for so long and wanted to make it last. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to do that. But there has to be a lot more going on offensively,” said Dortmund captain Emre Can. For BVB, the next groundbreaking games are coming up in the cup against surprise team VfB Stuttgart and in the championship against cup winners RB Leipzig. Everything is still OK, says Can: “It could be better, but we are in all three competitions.”
Both teams started the game with a clear plan, and after less than five minutes the distribution of roles became even clearer. After BVB had the ball in their own ranks for a long time and stopped two attempts to attack, Marco Reus played the through ball, Niclas Füllkrug laid it down as he fell and Ryerson gave Lukas Hradecky no chance. For the first time this season, Leverkusen was behind at home.
Hummels organizes the BVB defense
And the playing conditions were clear from that moment onwards. BVB were unusually deep, but Hummels acted in an organized but disciplined manner and closed the spaces well with the defensive self-image from the Milan victory. Leverkusen, who started with the same starting eleven for the ninth time on matchday 13, tried to find gaps with high possession of the ball and constant lateral shifts, but this was rarely successful at the beginning.
Bayer often broke through on the wings, especially on the right via Jeremie Frimpong, but the penalty area was usually not adequately occupied. But the equalizer seemed to fall after all when Frimpong’s cross rushed through almost the entire penalty area and Wirtz hit the crossbar with a turning shot (45th + 1). A dream goal
– but that was because of Victor Boniface’s previous offside position
didn’t count. The pressure had increased and BVB were now happy to come into the break unscathed. Another flaw: Dortmund had not launched a dangerous counterattack since the opening goal. And in the first one shortly after the break, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens allowed Odilon Kossounou to run past him (51′).
Alonso replaces Schick
Defensively, the guests looked as solid after the break as they had in the first half hour. And Hummels became more and more of a tower in the battle. The scene in the 62nd minute was symbolic when he blocked a shot from Argentine world champion Exequiel Palacios at the very last second.
But that couldn’t last forever. And Alonso proved to be lucky. The Spaniard brought on striker Patrik Schick, who prepared the equalizer seconds later.
LEVERKUSEN (dpa-AFX)
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