Next Saturday (6:30 p.m.) Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig will face each other in the top game of the Bundesliga – an absolutely groundbreaking game for BVB and the Saxons according to record national player Lothar Matthäus.
“The top game on Saturday between Dortmund and Leipzig is a final about who will finish fourth and keep in touch with the leading trio of Leverkusen, Munich and Stuttgart,” wrote Matthäus in his “Sky” column.
The 62-year-old was ambivalent about BVB’s most recent performances in the league. “I’ve always said that BVB’s results are okay, but they didn’t show the performances I expect from Dortmund in the Bundesliga against Bayern and in Stuttgart and in Leverkusen, at least not in the offensive and not in the entire game,” said Matthäus.
On the other hand, BVB proved its qualities in “difficult games” such as the 4-2 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach and the draw against Bayer, added the 1990 world champion.
Bayer Leverkusen “dominates” against BVB
Against the still unbeaten Werkself, BVB took the lead early on through Julian Ryerson (5th). But then the Westphalians largely holed up at the back. Victor Boniface (79th) finally rewarded Bayer with the equalizer.
“Leverkusen dominated the game against Dortmund. Everything went well, apart from exploiting the chances,” said Matthäus, attesting to the league leaders’ strong performance. “The Leverkusen team didn’t allow themselves to be disturbed by the deficit against a Champions League round of 16 side, they came back and showed that they are stable.”
Borussia “defended brilliantly, but you could already see from their formation that they didn’t focus much on counterattacks, but rather on compactness.” According to Matthäus, the result “ultimately speaks for Edin Terzic’s tactical orientation”.