Borussia Dortmund suffered a completely unnecessary setback in the fight for the championship. Despite a 2-0 and 3-2 lead against VfB Stuttgart, BVB gambled away the safe three-pointer and with it the great opportunity to draw level with the ailing FC Bayern on points. But the timing seems to be the right one.
“Karma describes a spiritual concept according to which every action – physical as well as mental – inevitably has a consequence”, appears as the first hit on Google when you search for the term “karma”, which is particularly often quoted on the Internet. It goes on to say: “This consequence does not necessarily have to take effect in the present life, but it may only manifest itself in a future life.”
On the 28th day of the game, BVB experienced the phenomenon (albeit a slimmed-down version) from the religions of Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism a little over four minutes later after what was widely believed to be a momentous act. After the supposed winning goal to make it 3:2 by Joker Giovanni Reyna in the second minute of added time, the substitute also cheered Youssoufa Moukoko very provocatively right in the face of the recently beaten VfB goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow. After the final whistle, however, it was Bredlow and his teammates who looked puzzled. Stuttgart actually managed to equalize a few seconds before the end through Silas Katompa Mvumpa (90+7) – and considering the course of the game, that was more than deserved.
BVB had led 2-0 at the break and were even outnumbered from the 39th minute after the yellow-red card for Stuttgart’s Konstantinos Mavropanos. Nevertheless, Borussia inexplicably collapsed after the break and conceded two goals within six minutes. The fact that Dortmund was unable to save the three points that were so important in the close race for the German championship even after taking the lead again is simply amateurish.
The BVB managers were correspondingly at a loss after the game. “I’m just angry and feel frustrated! We missed a great opportunity,” rumbled sports director Sebastian Kehl afterwards. Coach Edin Terzic scolded sky: “It’s hard to find words for it. We thought we had already experienced the stupidest thing with the defeat at home against Werder Bremen (2-3 after a 2-0 lead and conceding three goals from the 89th minute; note from the . Red.) But that tops everything.”
BVB enables VfB to make a comeback like it did 43 years ago
To underline their dissatisfaction, both also used a goal by Serhou Guirassy (52nd), which would have meant the 1:2, which was justifiably disallowed because of a wafer-thin offside position, as an example. “We conceded four goals, if you include the offside goal, you have to do that against ten men,” said Kehl.
The figures show that this was truly a small feat. First of all, VfB Stuttgart managed to score three goals in the Bundesliga when they were outnumbered: almost 43 years ago in September 1980 against – and that is the height of irony – BVB, who otherwise did not have the mishap again.
The whole truth is that BVB had allowed some good chances against eleven Stuttgarters in the first 45 minutes. The slump after the break against the decimated table 16 was all the more fatal. the Bundesliga. Terzic had clearly warned his team in the half-time speech of a possible defiant reaction from the Swabians.
However, his team lost the “discipline” in the game against the ball, the BVB coach complained and spoke of a lack of responsibility. “How we filled it with life in the second half is inexplicable,” he said, not even attempting to explain the missed opportunity: “I think you’ll find the right words, but forgive me for not can’t do for you today.”
Terzic should be well aware that the problems for the third loss of points in the last five Bundesliga games (two draws and the 4-2 defeat against FC Bayern) are obvious. The defensive that was so stable after the World Cup has long since fallen back into old patterns. For the sixth time in a row, the BVB defense was unable to keep the zero – that was last between May and October 2021 under Terzic and his predecessor Marco Rose.
BVB: The defense is shaking again
The almost four goals against VfB, who were threatened with relegation, were of course also due to the fact that Niklas Süle (muscular problems) and Nico Schlotterbeck (torn muscle fiber) lacked the complete central defense. But the duo, rightly praised for the strong start to the second half of the season, had already wobbled considerably during their last joint appearance in Munich. In the Swabians they were replaced by Mats Hummels and Emre Can.
The fact that Can, the midfielder who had been in the best form for weeks, had to be drawn into the defense had a significant impact on stability in the centre. The defensive was shaken up even more because Hummels stayed in the dressing room at half-time as a result of an infection with circulatory problems. The 34-year-old had performed well alongside Can in the first half, but there was still a lack of order. With the substitution of Soumaïla Coulibaly, she was no longer recognizable.
But it would also have been presumptuous to believe that the 19-year-old would hold together the BVB defense on his Bundesliga debut after a long period of suffering (torn cruciate ligament and three other injuries). Rather, his neighbors were required to keep the running Stuttgart away from their own goal. With a well-organized defense, it would not have gotten to the point where Coulibaly ended up becoming the unlucky man of the game because he was extremely unlucky when he hit the ball at 3:3. “We slacked off extremely and were in a bad position. That’s not possible,” criticized BVB keeper Gregor Kobel.
Salih Özcan and full-backs Julian Ryerson and Raphaël Guerreiro were also to blame for the missed win. Each of them was responsible for at least one goal. Terzic accordingly protected the inconsolable Frenchman. “Obviously we would like Soumi to clear the ball with his right foot and then it’s over.” But Coulibaly was the “last one we want to have as a scapegoat here today,” he added: “We missed a huge chance as a team and that’s brutally disappointing.”
BVB: Donyell Malen is the next bright spot
In any case, Terzic was careful not to name any players. That’s why he refrained from a direct confrontation with his team shortly after the game. “If I express everything I’m thinking in the dressing room, that wouldn’t be very good.” He wants to leave it at a sober problem analysis: “I’m not looking at the result now, only at what happened in the second half.”
In this case, however, the positive aspects, which certainly give courage for the coming tasks, would fall by the wayside. After all, Terzic can fully rely on his offensive these days. At the moment it seems almost irrelevant which player he uses in attack.
Sébastien Haller scored his fourth goal of the season in a top nine, Donyell Malen shone again and all the offensive substitutions (Marco Reus, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Giovanni Reyna and Youssoufa Mokoko) bore fruit. Only Karim Adeymi dropped a bit.
In particular, Malen’s performance explosion could heave BVB out of the small earnings crisis and sweep the team away – that was also the case with the highs of Julian Brandt and Guerreiro. The Dutchman Malen finally showed against Stuttgart with what is probably his best goal in a BVB jersey and an assist that is also worth seeing, why a transfer fee of 30 million euros was paid for him. In each of the past four games, Malen has scored once and provided two assists – that’s one goal contribution more than in the previous 24 Bundesliga games.
BVB: Edin Terzic keeps an impressively honest monologue
However, BVB cannot rely on being carried away by individual players any more than the upcoming opponents can rely on karma or the like. An emotionally charged Terzic made that clear at the press conference that followed. Visibly dejected, he let his thoughts run free in a monologue that lasted over three minutes.
“Now I’m trying to be very honest,” he began, swallowed, and addressed the mentality debate that kept burgeoning, as well as the criticism of the defensive statements by the BVB leadership: “There are reasons why we’ve been in the last “We haven’t managed to get to the top in ten years. There’s a reason I’ve been so humbled lately and I’ve been criticized for it,” he explained. It’s “difficult” for him to protect his team, “because it’s so unnecessary and stupid when you see the problems we’ve dealt with since July 1 (injuries, crash in sixth place).”
But his team fought back with a lot of “hard work and anger”. “Now we’re just giving it away today,” added Terzic and made a declaration of war: “We, especially me, all have a huge wish! (…) We finally have to start learning from the unnecessary setbacks. That’s mine Responsibility. I have to be the first to go ahead with a bold head. I’ll have to answer stupid questions again next week, it’s not up to you[journalists; editor’s note]it’s up to us.”
Striking words that give the impression: Around seven weeks before the big season finale, BVB seems to have finally realized that Bayern’s dominance can be broken – and that probably required another “stupid” dropout.
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