BVB has won four of the last four Bundesliga games “to zero” and only lost points and conceded one goal in the 1-1 draw at FC Augsburg. Where does this new defensive stability come from, which was previously criticized so often and so loudly at Borussia Dortmund?
The fact that at least the last two matches against Arminia Bielefeld and Mainz 05 were won 1-0 has something to do with BVB’s newly formed back four.
Nico Schulz, Emre Can, Marin Pongracic and Felix Passlack: This completely newly formed quartet defended against both East Westphalia and Rheinhessen for black and yellow and did an excellent job in front of keeper Gregor Kobel.
“We had a few more difficulties against Bielefeld, especially in the first half. We also had one or two scenes against Mainz, which we then defended well,” reported BVB central defender Marin Pongracic in an interview on the BVB YouTube channel about the unusual constellation in the back team, which was mainly due to the many injuries and illnesses of prominent defensive colleagues in Dortmund.
In Mainz, among others, Raphael Guerreiro, Mats Hummels, Manuel Akanji and Thomas Meunier were missing from the Borussia squad, who ideally would probably form the back four under head coach Marco Rose.
BVB takes on 1. FC Köln on Sunday
The youngest successful quartet in defense will not voluntarily vacate his post. “The zero is there, we did it well together. It can go on like this,” said loan player Pongragic after his 14th season game for BVB.
As long as he and his teammates on the defensive do their job as reliably as they did against Bielefeld and Mainz, the second-placed in the table can live with two narrow 1-0 wins, emphasized the native of Landshut: “Back has to be zero first. Up front can we always score a goal with our attacking quality.”
Pongracic is now hoping to be back in the starting lineup for the upcoming league game against 1. FC Köln on Sunday (from 7:30 p.m.). In any case, he has collected arguments for this.