Felix Nmecha humbly sank to his knees – with his eyes and index fingers pointing towards the sky. The celebration of the goal by the Dortmund midfielder and Christian believer was an expression of great relief.
His first competitive goal in the black and yellow jersey gave BVB a celebrated 1-0 win in the Champions League at Newcastle United and appeased his critics. “You want to play games like that as a footballer,” enthused the former Wolfsburg player, “I’m just happy.”
After a bumpy start, Nmecha seems to have finally arrived at his new club. In small steps he is stepping out of the long shadow of his predecessor Jude Bellingham, who moved to Real Madrid. The 23-year-old endured the interim existence as a reservist and the health setbacks in his own way: “These moments are not easy. But I try to use them to get better. I try not to think much and have my trust in myself God.”
Terzic: “We reported back today”
After his lucky shot, coach Edin Terzic was full of praise. “He’s a brilliant player. We know his potential and his talent. He put in a fantastic performance today.” Sports director Sebastian Kehl had already seen Nmecha’s strong performance a few days earlier in the Bundesliga against Bremen (1-0) as an indication that the high transfer fee of 30 million euros was justified: “Now you can slowly understand why we wanted the player really wanted to have it.”
Nmecha brought new life to the Dortmund team in the difficult Group F, who had already been written off by many after previously mixed performances against Paris (0:2) and AC Milan (0:0). As third in the table, BVB (4) is level on points with second-placed Newcastle and can make up further ground with a win at home against the English in two weeks. Even leaders Paris (6) are still within striking distance after beating Milan 3-0, with a lead of just two points. “We reported back today. It’s now half time. And if we keep playing like this, it will remain exciting until the end,” commented the 40-year-old Terzic with a confident view of the three remaining group games.
BVB frees itself from the burden
As in the Bundesliga with five wins in a row, BVB also managed to turn the trend around in Europe. Unlike the group opener in Paris, this time the team did not freeze in awe, but offered passionate resistance in the constant rain in Newcastle. “The first half was our best performance this season,” praised Terzic, “we’re on the right track, we’ve shown that in the last few weeks.”
Although the opponent hit the aluminum twice in the final phase through Callum Wilson (86′) and Anthony Gordon (90’5), the 1-0 win was a fair reward for a courageous performance. “We showed a lot of effort, a lot of heart and did a great job,” said goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who saved his team from conceding a goal on several occasions. In addition to coach Terzic, sports director Kehl also seemed to have been relieved of heavy burdens. “This victory feels really good. The team has taken a really good step forward.”
After the encouragement from Newcastle, the fourth team in the Bundesliga goes into the difficult national top games against Frankfurt (October 29th), Munich (November 4th) and Stuttgart (November 11th) with plenty of tailwind. Unlike before, the team no longer falters so quickly defensively. In the twelfth competitive game of the new season, they kept a clean sheet for the fifth time and celebrated a 1-0 win for the fourth time. Terzic hopes for a permanent end to the shortcoming that has been annoying for years: “We were pleased that we defended the zero again.”
