Borussia Dortmund was spared a rude awakening this time, but not the big tremors.
Unlike the historic last-minute blackout two weeks ago in the home game against Bremen (2-3), Edin Terzic’s team saved the lead over time in a 1-0 (1-0) win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. To the relief of the coach, BVB seems to be back on track in time for the start of the Champions League. “If you compare that with what happened here two weeks ago against Werder, that was clear progress. We got back the points that we had previously left behind,” commented the football coach.
hits and misses
The best performance of the season, enhanced by Marco Reus’ early goal (16th minute), was seen by everyone involved as a successful dress rehearsal for the group start in the European premier class on Tuesday at the same venue against FC Copenhagen. “After the last home game we were all shocked and tried to get into the next wave. It was important to get into the flow, then everything would be a little easier,” said Captain Reus.
But despite all the pride about the famous achievement, a blemish remained. As with the previous successes over Leverkusen (1-0), Freiburg (3-1) and Hertha BSC (1-0), the duel with Hoffenheim, who had previously tied on points, turned into a feat of strength. “One small drawback is that we don’t close the sack. Then it gets a bit tight at the end. We have to do ourselves a favor of not getting into such a situation in the first place,” recommended offensive player Julian Brandt.
Missed many chances
Similar to the national player, Terzic also complained about the inconsistent handling of goal chances, which had already caused a restless final phase in Berlin a week ago: “You can see a development, you can see a process. But now we still have to learn how to do it chasing balls into the net.”
For the guests, however, the number of chances was limited. After three wins in a row, they missed the possible best start to the season in club history with four successes in the first five games. Despite the disappointing first half, in which his team was lucky to avoid falling behind, coach André Breitenreiter refrained from scolding his professionals: “I didn’t have to be loud today because the boys didn’t deserve it after a fantastic start to the season. I I’m still convinced that we can have a good season, but then we have to learn from these things.”
