With a lot of enthusiasm, Borussia Dortmund defeated FC Augsburg and consolidated second place in the Bundesliga.
Coach Niko Kovac’s team deservedly defeated the Bavarian Swabians 2-0 (1-0).
In front of 81,365 spectators in the Dortmund stadium, Karim Adeyemi (13th minute) and 18-year-old Luca Reggiani (59th) scored the goals for BVB. The hosts, who could have won more, now have 58 points.
For Augsburg it was the second defeat in a row after the 1:2 in Leipzig. Coach Manuel Baum’s team should no longer be in acute danger of relegation given the 31 points they have already collected.
Dortmund scores with the first chance to score
Kovac surprisingly left out his regular center forwards Serhou Guirassy and Fábio Silva in his starting line-up. Maximilian Beier and Adeyemi should provide a goal threat up front. And this plan worked early. Beier passed the ball from the left across in front of the Augsburg goal and Adeyemi scored with the first chance to make it 1-0 for Westphalia.
It took the guests until the 23rd minute and a mistake from BVB defender Waldemar Anton to become dangerous. Rodrigo Ribeiro ran freely towards Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel from a half-right position, but shot well over the goal.
However, Dortmund remained the team that clearly dominated the game. The defense around captain Nico Schlotterbeck, who met his brother and FCA defender Keven Schlotterbeck, was secure. But she was hardly asked for.
Dortmund had significantly more possession of the ball and had several great opportunities to extend their lead. Beier and Adeyemi’s shots hit the crossbar, and FCA goalkeeper Finn Dahmen directed a remarkable attempt from a distance from Jobe Bellingham over the goal. The footballing appearance and attitude were right. At halftime, Dortmund could only blame themselves for weakly converting their chances.
Goal premiere for BVB youngsters
Even after the break, the hosts played superiorly and were rewarded for it again. After a corner, youngster Reggiani scored his debut goal in the Bundesliga with a header in his fourth game. The Italian cheered exuberantly and was celebrated particularly loudly by the south stand.
With fresh forces and Michael Gregoritsch as an offensive target player, FCA coach Baum tried to give his team new impetus. However, Dortmund’s victory was no longer in danger.
The south stand celebrates Popp: Dortmund’s spectacular coup
p> Alexandra Popp was able to immediately feel the size of her new employer and club close to her heart when she was introduced. She was enthusiastically celebrated by tens of thousands of fans in front of the gigantic south stand. After 14 years at VfL Wolfsburg, the former captain of the German national team is moving to BVB in the summer – and thus from the federal to the third division. While Popp fulfills her last big career wish, the spectacular transfer is intended to accelerate Dortmund’s catch-up in women’s football.
Bayern hunters like the men? Or is there even more? With the Popp transfer, BVB is sending a clear signal to the (still) far-flung competition. “Alex’s commitment is a big exclamation point for our ambitions,” said BVB women’s football managing director Svenja Schlenker in a club statement. Motto: Now we’re taking action in Dortmund, where the structural and financial conditions for top-class football are already in place.
Popp’s track record
In Popp, who will soon be 35 years old, one of the strongest and most successful ambassadors in her sport is moving back to the Ruhr area, where she made her Bundesliga debut for FCR Duisburg in 2008 as a 17-year-old. Their track record since then: two titles in the Champions League, 13 in the DFB Cup, seven German championships. The three-time “Footballer of the Year” scored 67 goals in 145 international matches. In 2016 she became Olympic champion with the DFB team, and eight years later she won bronze.
He noticed in his environment “that many girls started playing football because of Alex,” said national coach Christian Wück when Popp ended her career in the national jersey in Duisburg a good year and a half ago. Popp touched people, which is why she “did very, very right” regardless of her sporting successes.
Popp never shied away from the public “and always took the floor to push standards in order to change something,” was the verdict of ex-national goalkeeper Almuth Schult in the Popp documentary “Ende Legende” (ARD). Former DFB coach Horst Hrubesch said: “She just plays for the team. And that’s the deciding factor. That she’s not too good for anything, even does dirty work.”
Popp: “My heart beats for this club”
Now the icon is supposed to accompany a cultural change at BVB that was not a given for a long time. There has only been a BVB women’s team since the 2021/2022 season, and it started way down in the district league. And it’s been steadily increasing ever since. The duel against industry leader FC Bayern in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup showed some of what is possible. 15,755 fans saw a respectable 0-2 defeat in Dortmund’s Rote Erde stadium at the end of September.
For the top striker, who was born a few kilometers away in Witten, BVB is above all an emotional story. “I’ve had a lot of injuries behind me and I don’t know how quickly it might be over. That’s why I don’t want to miss the chance to play in the Borussia Dortmund jersey,” said Popp in a club interview. “My heart beats for this club and that’s why I chose Dortmund.”
The BVB opponents: Wacker Mecklenbeck and Vorwärts Spoho Köln
Popp has committed herself to BVB until at least June 30, 2029, but for the time being – and perhaps forever – she is foregoing magical Champions League nights, cup finals in front of a big crowd and German championships. In the Regionalliga West, BVB’s opponents are currently called DJK Wacker Mecklenbeck or Vorwärts Spoho Köln.
The aim of the BVB players is to make it into the Bundesliga, but the reserves of 1. FC Köln are currently ahead in the championship fight. Dortmund is second. She also thought about that, said Popp. “Do you want that? Can you do that? Second league, regional league – that’s a big difference to the first league and also the Champions League,” she explained. But it was clear: “I don’t want any extra sausage, I’m fully involved.”
Especially since the prospects in the long term are likely to be good, just a few days ago Ralf Kellermann also made his future with Dortmund public. The 57-year-old is one of the most successful coaches and managers in women’s football, also comes from Wolfsburg in the summer and, like Popp, signed with the Revierclub until 2029.
/the/DP/e.g
DORTMUND (dpa-AFX)
