Marco Rose and Niko Kovac have the hardest job in the league. Not only do you have to study another opponent every week, but you also get to know your own team constantly. On Saturday evening in the so-called Bundesliga top game, the two disappointments RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund will meet in the direct duel (Sportschau.de will report in the live ticker from 6.30 p.m.).
The sentence was probably meant nicely, it fell in the euphoria and should certainly be a compliment. But in truth, he has plenty of slaps. “This team was born for such games”said Niko Kovac after the 2-1 win on Wednesday in Lille, who promoted his BVB in the top eight in Europe. There the Dortmunders are now playing with teams like Real Madrid, Inter Milan, FC Arsenal, Paris St. Germain or FC Bayern for the crown in the premier class – the next opponent there is FC Barcelona.
Royal class subscription in danger
This is exactly where his players see themselves, so you can understand Kovac’s admission. Augsburg (0: 1) or Bochum (0: 2), on the other hand, are apparently not that their thing. In the Bundesliga, it is therefore not currently enough for the top eight: the renewed qualification for the Champions League is currently almost more into the path as a defending champion than about this annoying everyday life.
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac gestured on the edge of the field.
There, BVB runs as a currently tenth, but also Leipzig as the sixth acute risk of losing their subscription to top international football. Dortmund was most recently qualified for the premier class nine times, Leipzig six times. In the table of 2025 it looks even worse: after the last four winless games in series, RB only occupies 10th place, BVB is only in 13th place.
Worries about injury At RB are the past
Both trainers cannot explain why this is so. Of course, rose was missing stars like Xavi Simons or David space in the first half of the season, but they have long been there. Before the Freiburg game last, the RB coach even tried a short training camp and justified it: “It was important to me that we come away that we didn’t start in the same drop every day. Sip our coffee there and perhaps also emit ourselves.”
Afterwards it was only enough to 0-0 and Rose did not fall much more than: “We would have liked to have two more points.”
No plan B at the bulls
But what noticed again: Leipzig lacks the plan B. If the opponent succeeds in checking the magical triangle with Xavi Simons, Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko, RB everything broke: nobody takes the command in midfield, little impulses come from the bank. It actually looks self -pitying what the bulls deliver if they are not just in the flow – that was already in the league of the Champions League, in the RB all four away and three out of four home games lost.
With BVB, the problem is more complex, because the gap between skill and kicking is even more drastic. The fact that the Dortmunders do not get their potential against supposedly weaker teams per se cannot be said throughout: Against Union Berlin there was a brilliant 6: 0, then a very disciplined 2-0 on St. Pauli.
Kovac has to “focus on sport”
Such appearances in the entire season have not yet been sustainable. In front of it and in between there are again appearances like in Bochum or against Augsburg. It could therefore be helpful when trying to understand this BVB to listen to Niko Kovac.
Before the second leg in Lille, it was particularly important to the coach “Important to sharpen the senses. And important to focus on sport.” Where he had otherwise located the focus of his professionals, Kovac did not reveal in this speech. But it would be interesting to find out.
Rose with victory record in Dortmund – still dismissed
Marco Rose also experienced all of this in Dortmund, but at a significantly higher level. Under Rose, BVB 2021/22 disappointed internationally and in the DFB Cup, but became runner-up in the Bundesliga and had 18 points more than up to date after 25 match days.
Rose is still the BVB coach with the historically highest victory rate in the Bundesliga (65 percent), at that time he had an average of 2.0 points per Bundesliga game. Nevertheless, after only a year, the bosses separated from him because in the season analysis they were not shown any plan B, especially for the susceptible defensive from Rose.