The good start to the new year has fueled BVB’s hopes of better times. But the team has long since fallen back into old patterns. A change seems inevitable.
Everything was actually set for Borussia Dortmund on Sunday: fourth in the table, without a competitive game defeat so far this year, hosted TSG Hoffenheim, who had not won since the beginning of December, at home in the Bundesliga. In addition, pursuers RB Leipzig had already lost 2-1 in Munich on Saturday. VfB Stuttgart in third place stumbled against 1. FC Köln (1:1). With a win, BVB could have put four points between themselves and the Saxons and could have moved within three of the Swabians. But naturally things turned out differently.
Coach Edin Terzić’s team lost their home game against TSG with 2:3 (2:1). Some hair-raising mistakes in the back team contributed to the bankruptcy. “We brought an opponent who didn’t give up – but whom we had under control – back to life with dirty balls,” said national player Julian Brandt after the game and added: “It was crazy at times.”
Memories of last December were brought back when BVB failed to win at all for the entire month. Despite the good start to the new year in terms of points, the team is once again under scrutiny – and with it the coach.
The good start is deceptive – the tasks don’t get any easier
In Dortmund, the victories at the beginning of the year have glossed over a lot of things that have been going wrong in terms of football for a long time – and above all, what awaits the club in the coming weeks.
BVB won all three games in January, most of them confidently. But the successes against relegation candidates Cologne, Darmstadt and Bochum were hardly an indicator for the rest of the season. This has already been evident in the past few weeks.
In February there was only one win (3-0 against SC Freiburg), but there were two poor draws in the league against newly promoted Heidenheim and the crisis-ridden VfL Wolfsburg as well as the defeat against Hoffenheim, who were also struggling. In the Champions League too, it was only enough for a draw at PSV Eindhoven, although BVB was lucky that the Dutch were careless with their opportunities and in the end it was actually only 1-1.
Things could get tough for Dortmund from mid-March onwards. After the games against Union Berlin and Werder Bremen at the beginning of the month, PSV Eindhoven is a guest for the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. The opponents in the episode are Frankfurt, Bayern, Stuttgart, Gladbach, Leverkusen and Leipzig. A simple program looks different. If BVB shows comparable performances to last year, they risk missing their big goal – qualifying for the Champions League.
Major defensive mistakes and ray of hope Donyell Malen
The defense is currently the main concern. Because Dortmund has been acting erratically in defense for weeks. The defenders keep making mistakes that cost BVB crucial points.
Against Hoffenheim, captain Emre Can and Nico Schlotterbeck invited TSG striker Ihlas Bebou to score a goal after just two minutes. When Maxi Beier equalized 2-2, the entire BVB team counterattacked after losing the ball in their own stadium. Can provided maximum protection for the goal scorer before he shot in.