Dortmund should have lost better in Hoffenheim

Borussia Dortmund’s victory in Hoffenheim could prove to be a Trojan horse in the long run. Why is Cologne’s game slowly suffering, why is VfB facing the two decisive weeks of the season and why is Hoffenheim making it into the Champions League? The theses for the 20th match day clarify.

A BVB defeat would have been better on sight

Borussia Dortmund has now won the first three difficult games of the second half of the season against direct rivals in the battle for the top spots, and the team is still right on course in the league. But there is another truth behind the bare results: With this inconsistency and the sometimes blatant fluctuations in performance, Borussia will no longer be able to remain the second best German team behind Bayern in the long run – let alone conjure up something like a “real” title race.

Even before the game in Hoffenheim, Hans-Joachim Watzke’s explanation for the cup defeat during the week sounded as if the managing director could not or did not want to acknowledge the team’s problems. And as proof, the team then delivered a correspondingly significant game in the Kraichgau. With two of their own shots on goal, Dortmund scored three goals and somehow managed to win 3-2 against an opponent who was clearly superior in all respects. In Frankfurt it was still somehow good with the three points, now also in Hoffenheim, and a win is a win.

But for the development of the team and the hope that the results don’t cloud the view of the problems, a defeat in Kraichgau would have been almost better for BVB. The lead in fifth would still be comfortable enough, but perhaps a loss would have had a cleansing effect – and a better impact on the coming weeks. Otherwise there is a risk of (further) lying to yourself.

TSG Hoffenheim reaches the premier class

Dortmund’s opponents were understandably miserable after the game. Once again, TSG put in a spotless performance, had BVB in the sack as in phases in the first leg – and ended up with the same result and empty hands. But contrary to Dortmund, the development in Hoffenheim is a reason for great hope.

After a difficult last season, Sebastian Hoeneß not only got the curve, but is clearly on course with his team for the Champions League – and should also reach it based on the impressions of the last few weeks and months. Hoffenheim benefits from a team that is now well-established with clear yet very flexible processes in all phases of the game and of course a squad that only a few other clubs can afford in the truest sense of the word in Corona times.

Hoeneß can always add fresh staff, there is enough pressure from the bench in Hoffenheim, the power density in the squad is enormous. Even if the results have not always matched the performances shown: Hoffenheim’s path is the right one. And should be enough for a place in the premier class at the end of the season.

One of the best German central defenders plays for Union

In Berlin, the dreams of the premier class are also ripening, the understatement of those responsible can actually only be classified as folklore for weeks. 1. FC Union is clearly on course for Europe, the guarantor for the outstanding development is coach Urs Fischer. He actually managed to improve on the team’s greatest strength to date.

It remains incredibly difficult to score goals against Union. The Berliners have conceded the third fewest goals in the league and are stoically completing their workload even without their supposedly best central defender Marvin Friedrich. Right in the middle, Robin Knoche is a player who holds the shop together, who is more representative of Union’s strategy than few others.

Knoche was no longer good enough in Wolfsburg, other Bundesliga clubs hesitated – but Union grabbed it. As with many other players of this type or players from the second division, who immediately put the Berliners on the track in a profitable way. Knoche was once in the orbit of the national team, but then fell away.

Now in Berlin, he shows everything that makes an above-average central defender in a game idea tailored to his advantages. Knoche’s special role with his move out into midfield and the moments of cover fits perfectly into the Berlin game. In a direct duel he is a bench, in the penalty area it is difficult to overcome in clarifying actions in the air and on the ground. And that’s why Union has one of the currently best central defenders in the country in its defence.

Bundesliga: The current table