EIt was a strange struggle for the right message that followed Borussia Dortmund’s 4-1 (0-2) defeat of RB Leipzig on the famous south stand. Many people whistled in anger, while others tried to chant to cheer up the sad players who are slowly realizing that other teams in the Bundesliga are simply more stable at the moment. This evening was “disappointing”, said Mats Hummels and attributed this primarily to the “effectiveness” of Leipzig. “It was by no means a 4-1 game,” explained Hummels, RB primarily countered.
But it is also true that RB made fewer mistakes, created clearer chances, seemed more confident overall and, above all, had the better strategy to uncover the opponent’s weaknesses. Dortmund had so much planned in their stadium, which was completely filled with 81,365 spectators for the first time in 763 days. The Ultras were also there in full force, burning off pyrotechnics at kick-off, and the players stared in amazement at the “Süd”. People like Jude Bellingham have never seen this legendary grandstand full.
Captain Marco Reus was also back after an illness and a four-game break, so the starting position was good. And for a quarter of an hour, Dortmund actually played excellently. But the party came to an end quite quickly when the outstanding Konrad Laimer scored to make it 0-1 after a catastrophic ball loss by Emre Can (21st). With this setback, “the game was overturned,” said Hummels.
Clarity of thoughts clouded
Before this goal, Dortmund had missed two excellent chances themselves. At first, Reus appeared free in front of the Leipzig goal, but instead of using this opportunity for a determined finish, the captain tried a cross pass to Haaland, who was in a worse position (7th). The Norwegian superstar also had a shot from a good position, but narrowly missed the goal (13′). That should remain the only dangerous offensive action for a long time, while the energies that came from the stands were enormous. “We’ll get better with our spectators, guaranteed,” said Sebastian Kehl, head of the licensed player department, shortly before kick-off, but there are two sides to a dense, intense atmosphere in such a packed stadium.
Emotions can cloud the clarity of thought, and perhaps that’s exactly what happened to Can when he frittered away the ball before the 0-1, instead of playing the simple pass back to goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. Another indication of this thesis is that Can behaved clumsily again before the 0:2. The national player tried to deflect a Laimer shot with his foot and with this action directed the ball, which Kobel would have held, into his own goal. “It was new for many to play in front of 82,000 people, including Dortmund themselves,” said Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco.
The 0:2 was a mood killer and after the break it didn’t get much better. Reus hardly managed a constructive action, the defensive looked sluggish and Haaland didn’t get any balls. His team lacked “consistency in both sixteen”, said Dortmund coach Marco Rose. As with 0: 3, when BVB was played according to all the rules of the art; Christopher Nkunku completed an impressive attack with a precise shot from 14 meters out, this time the ubiquitous Laimer providing the assist. A phase with a lot of pressure, which could also have electrified the stadium, was no longer possible for Dortmund.
In the closing stages, substitute Donyell Malen scored a goal to make it 3-1 (84′), which Dani Olmo responded to immediately with a great shot from 20 meters under the Dortmund goal (86′). “We also know that it wasn’t good in the end,” said Hummels. The mostly decent results in the Bundesliga over the past few weeks may have concealed the fact that this team very rarely plays really convincingly when they meet a really strong opponent.
The Revierklub is still doing quite well in the table, and if FC Bayern are stripped of the three points from the win in Freiburg, they still have a chance of winning the championship title. But this team didn’t really deserve such a triumph this season. Because overall, Dortmund just seem too unstable, while Leipzig have impressively substantiated their reputation as the best team in the second half of the season.
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