Worn out, Edin Terzic accepted the congratulations from FC coach Steffen Baumgart, then the coach and his players from Borussia Dortmund went to the relieved fans. With a lot of effort, BVB managed to take the first step towards overcoming the title trauma.
84 days after losing the championship in the season finale, the runners-up defeated 1. FC Köln 1-0 (0-0). Thanks to Donyell Malen’s goal (88th minute), the runners-up celebrated their ninth successful start to a new Bundesliga season in a row in front of 81,365 spectators in the sold-out Dortmund stadium.
“We noticed that we’re not 100 percent. We’ll take the three points with us, but there has to be a lot more to come,” said the new Dortmund captain Emre Can on Sky. BVB struggled for a long time in front of the opening goal, during the second half the guests were at times the more dangerous team. The fact that Malen scored after a corner was indicative of Dortmund’s combination game. “We might have won the game if we had been a little calmer on the last pass,” said Cologne’s Dejan Ljubicic.
Nmecha and Adeyemi back in the squad
To Terzic’s delight, the injury worries decreased in time for the start of the league. The recently injured Felix Nmecha and Karim Adeyemi returned to the squad, but initially sat on the bench. But even without the newcomer and the national striker in the starting eleven, BVB initially took over the reins. When creating chances to score, however, there was a lack of speed and precision despite all ball possession. The guests therefore had the first opportunity to take the lead when Niklas Süle blocked Davie Selke’s shot from 15 meters in dire need (17′).
A lot of patience was required in Dortmund’s efforts to shake the Cologne defense, which was well organized by FC trainer Baumgart. Only in the 30th minute did the first really dangerous approach to the goal succeed. Julian Brandt, who was called up in the left attack, failed with his shot at FC keeper Marvin Schwäbe. Two minutes later, Mats Hummels narrowly missed a header from Marco Reus in a promising position.
Painting with the acclaimed opening goal
BVB’s mixed performance encouraged Cologne to counterattack, which gave Dortmund’s defense plenty of work. Unlike the 1: 6 at the same place last season, FC was still brilliant at halftime.
Even after the restart, the guests proved to be uncomfortable opponents and had the first chance again. When Sargis Adamyan, who had just come on, shot from close range, BVB keeper Gregor Kobel had to use all his skills to prevent the deficit.
Terzic’s attempt to liven up his team’s game with the substitutions of Youssoufa Moukoko, Nmecha and Adeyemi also had little effect. Even after that, the Cologne team were closer to a goal than the unimaginative BVB. Once again it was Kobel who prevented the 0:1 when Joker Adamyan headed the ball (78th). Then Malen scored after Brandt’s standard situation for the acclaimed lead.
