The restart of the Bundesliga on Friday (from 8.30 p.m. in the full radio report and in the live ticker at the Sportschau) is a blast: Borussia Dortmund is relying on two top arguments from the statistics department, Bayer Leverkusen on two stars in gala form .
Until late Monday afternoon at 5:08 p.m. it could be assumed that the conditions for a duel with the reigning champions could not have been better for Dortmund. Despite a pretty poor overall performance in the first 15 games so far with sixth place and 25 points, a win for BVB against Leverkusen is statistically a pretty safe bet, and a defeat can almost be ruled out – at least for fans of the rich data collections that fans and journalists have to be fed before such a game.
Accordingly, Dortmund has not lost any of the last 39 Bundesliga home games on a Friday evening; there have been 30 wins and nine draws. And a restart match in the new year is also ideal for BVB: there has not been a defeat for the men from Borsigplatz straight after a winter break for 20 years: after a 0-1 against Schalke in 2004 (with two missed penalties ) followed by 15 wins and five draws.
Now of all times is the Stegemann comeback
Then on Monday the DFB came around the corner with a very special idea. As if this top game with Bayern’s pursuers Leverkusen and Champions League place hunters Dortmund wasn’t already explosive enough, the association announced the referee appointment astonishingly four days before kick-off (otherwise two at the earliest) – and the BVB fans are shocked Wounds that are far from healed. Dortmund against Leverkusen is actually refereed by Sascha Stegemann.
From a purely mathematical point of view, Stegemann was responsible for Dortmund’s championship title a year and a half ago. As is well known, the team coached by Edin Terzic at the time was already within reach of the trophy, but ultimately ended up tied for second place with FC Bayern after missing a win against Mainz on matchday 34.
So one point was missing from the final tally, and Dortmund left it behind in a draw in Bochum shortly before. In this game, Stegemann did not give a clear penalty for Dortmund after a foul by Danilo Soares on Karim Adeyemi, and grotesquely it was not corrected by VAR Robert Hartmann – which both the referee himself and the association later admitted was a “clear mistake”. Stegemann was then massively insulted and threatened for a long time, and he has not refereed a Dortmund game since then.
Send and Wirtz with you more impressive Quota
The Leverkusen team need not be concerned that this issue will inevitably come up again before the Bundesliga restart. Among other things, they are relying on the incredible form of Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick to survive the short winter break: With nine points each since matchday 10, these two Bayer stars were by far the most successful professionals in the league and played a key role in ensuring that The gap to Bayern has now shrunk from nine points to four points.
Xhaka and Andrich have respect for Dortmund
In general, Leverkusen didn’t need the break over Christmas and New Year’s Eve: they managed five three-pointers in a row in the league, and the Werkself even managed eight wins in a row across all competitions before Christmas. Nevertheless, the central players in the midfield have great respect for BVB and do not want to be distracted by referee appointments and statistical peculiarities: “We do very well to simply do our own work”says national player Robert Andrich. “Dortmund, but also Leipzig and Frankfurt, also have very good teams, so no one can be written off.”
Leading player Granit Xhaka, who had his hair cut short, also warns: “We know what it’s about. Dortmund have a good team, especially at home. They have a lot of very good players and a coach who is very hungry. We have to prepare very, very well.”
BVB continues to look for consistency
Of course, that’s what Nuri Sahin also has in mind, who with an average points score of 1.7 doesn’t yet come close to his predecessors Terzic, Marco Rose (2.0 each) or Lucien Favre (2.1). Sahin also had to struggle with enormous injury problems in the first phase of his career. But there were always games in which his team seemed mysteriously lethargic, such as on matchday 14 against Hoffenheim (1:1).
Under Sahin we haven’t managed two wins in a row in the league, now against Leverkusen we have the chance to do so for the eighth time: before Christmas we managed a 3-1 win in Wolfsburg, with another three points BVB could now move within four points of Leverkusen and would pass by Mainz, Leipzig and Frankfurt, at least for one night.