Borussia Dortmund made a record start to the year with ten wins in a row. The case after the Champions League exit, a lost top game and the DFB Cup bankruptcy is correspondingly deep.
Success streaks are finite in sport. You never know when or how – what is clear is that they will end. Above all, the “how” is likely to cause lasting headaches for all players and officials at Borussia Dortmund.
Not on par with Munich and Leipzig
After the Champions League defeat against Chelsea, Dortmund’s frustration could still be unloaded on the video referee. But in the 2:4 in the top Bundesliga game against Bayern Munich and the desolate cup appearance against Leipzig (0:2), all the “culprits” wore black and yellow.
BVB coach Edin Terzic complained about a “hard penalty decision” after the 2-0 defeat against Chelsea in March, but he had seen at least two games “on an equal footing”. However, there was not much to see from eye level in the important duels with Munich and Leipzig.
practical tests failed against top clubs
The Bundesliga games against Schalke (2:2) and Cologne (6:1) after the game in London did not reveal any major dips in the BVB game, but relegation candidates in the Bundesliga are not a benchmark for Dortmund’s claims. Record champions Munich and Leipzig, who are top-ranked in the squad, are very much the same.
As far as the tests with the top clubs are concerned, you have to certify that Dortmund failed after the DFB Cup on Wednesday. It was already 3-0 at the break against Bayern Munich and the black and yellow were played against the wall at times in the quarterfinals of the cup and were lucky that after 45 minutes and a shot ratio of 1:14 it was only 0:1.
Brandt after hamstring tear not yet in motion
With a bit of luck, Dortmund could have turned the game around in the second half, despite Leipzig’s playful superiority. But that was also due to the fact that the guests failed to top up early – the 2-0 only came in injury time. A turnaround would have been happy: “We didn’t deserve to win the game today. We were absolutely harmless offensively, defensively too open,” said Julian Brandt after the game.
The fact that things are not going well at Borussia is not due to individual players given the top-class squad. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who started the defeat in Munich with a major mistake, is just as little to blame as Brandt, who hasn’t gotten back on his feet after tearing a muscle fiber in the game against Chelsea.
Dortmund under pressure in the top game against Union
After two disappointing performances against Munich (substitution at halftime) and Leipzig (substitution in the 63rd minute), in which he acted largely unimaginative and colorless, Brandt is a bit symbolic of Dortmund’s recent lack of ability to realize their full potential in top games to retrieve.
This is mainly due to the fact that Brandt played a key role in BVB’s brilliant start in 2023. With strong performances, four goals and two assists, he became Dortmund’s top scorer in the league (8 in total). When the Terzic team celebrated their tenth competitive win in a row against Leipzig at the beginning of March with a 2-1 home win in the league, they were only one win away from the club record (11 wins in the 2015/16 season).
There was no record, and there will be no second chances for BVB in the knockout competitions. The club has its last chance at a title in the league. Despite losing the top game, only two points separate Dortmund from the top. Without victories in top games, however, it will be difficult to intercept Bayern. The BVB players will get their first opportunity to do so on Saturday when they host third-placed Union Berlin.
