BVB managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke countered the blow from ex-Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in a smug way last Sunday.
Rummenigge had already verbally bid farewell to Dortmund after the 1: 2 bankruptcy at RB Leipzig on Saturday and claimed that FC Bayern could “slowly dust off the championship trophy”.
Watzke countered now in conversation with the Ruhr news: “Bayern are welcome to say that. We think differently. After Bayern’s 0-5 in the cup, I didn’t hear a Dortmund man who said that we were already polishing the cup or something like that.”
As the reigning DFB Cup winner, BVB still has the chance to defend the title, while Bayern failed again in the second round – and this time even after a historic disgrace in Gladbach. Last season, Munich was eliminated in the 2nd round at Holstein Kiel, in the final, BVB won against RB Leipzig.
In the Bundesliga, the Black and Yellows are in second place, but already four points behind Bayern, who can achieve history in European football with the tenth championship title in a row. No club in the top 5 leagues had ever succeeded in doing this.
BVB interim conclusion to the season? Watzke: “Overall not bad”
Despite the recently growing deficit on Bayern, Watzke is not negative about the season so far – on the contrary: “We have defied the problems so far,” said the 62-year-old: “The results in the league and in the cup are okay . We’re one point behind in the Champions League. But overall that’s not bad and we have it in our own hands. “
Watzke paid special attention to what he saw as the premier class game against Sporting Lisbon, that BVB should not lose under any circumstances after two defeats against Ajax Amsterdam if he wants to make it to the second round of the CL. “If we lose, we are 99 percent out of the Champions League,” warns the BVB boss: “We need at least one point.”
In Group A, Dortmund are currently tied with the Portuguese in second place, and in the event of a win, BVB would be in the round of 16 before the final group game against Besiktas. Even with a draw, Dortmund would have better cards for advancement than Sporting.
BVB boss Watzke is hoping for an international break and a return
With a view to the upcoming tasks, Watzke is placing his hopes for successful weeks until Christmas, also in the upcoming international break, which gives Borussia time so that the bulging hospital can clear up a little.
“It gives us some time to heal some injuries so that hopefully one or the other player can return to our squad. Anyone who is fit again will help us because we have to be there immediately after the break.”
At BVB in Erling Haaland, Raphael Guerreiro, Mahmoud Dahoud, Emre Can and Giovanni Reyna, numerous regular employees are currently absent. The rotation players Marius Wolf and Nico Schulz also got hit. At least Guerreiro, Schulz, Wolf, Can and Dahoud could be available again for the squad against Stuttgart (November 20) after the international break.
