Es went home quickly. The game in the corona high-risk area of Belgium had hardly come to an end when the preparations for the trip home were already being made – a few hours later Dortmund had the BVB players again. No time should be lost and, above all, no unnecessary risk should be taken.
The Borussia team had three important points in their luggage, the championship lead in the preliminary round group, which had started so badly for them – and a good deal of new self-confidence.
“We wanted to show immediately that we want to win, and at halftime it was almost over,” said coach Lucien Favre after the 3-0 (3-0) win at Club Bruges on Wednesday evening. This time the Swiss, which is rare for him, was completely satisfied with the performance of his team. Because his team also knew how to convince again with something that Favre had tinkered with over two years and that gave him a lot of headache: defensive stability.
Offensive forces help out on the defensive
In Bruges, Dortmund played for the fourth time in a row across all competitions to zero. In the Bundesliga, Favre’s team has only conceded two goals in six games – fewer than any other team. Only once, in the 1: 3 defeat at the beginning of the Champions League at Lazio, were the dams broken. This was an exception – in the first two Favre years, however, it was unsightly regularity. And that, Favre believes, was the main reason why it failed to make it to the championship in both his first and second seasons.
This now seems to be different. It should also be different on Saturday, when FC Bayern will come to the league summit in Dortmund. “The defense is important, but the midfielders and the strikers are also important to have a good defense,” said the coach, who finally seems to have succeeded in talking to his players who “think very aggressively” (Favre), create a deeper awareness of defending.
Whether Erling Haaland, who scored two goals again in Bruges (18th and 32nd minutes), Thorgan Hazard, who scored 1-0 (14th), Gio Reyna or Julian Brandt – all offensive forces worked with them backwards. They confirmed a trend that has been going on for weeks, even with different casts.
The BVB defenders, used to grief in recent years because they have often been abandoned by their colleagues, who are mostly highly praised by the public, are flourishing: they are finally being helped. “The entire team defends very well,” said Manuel Akanji, who, curiously, was the last active central defender on Wednesday. Dan Axel Zagadou is still injured, Emre Can incapacitated by a corona infection, and defense chief Mats Hummels has been spared muscular problems.
In addition to Akanji, midfielder Axel Witsel surprisingly played in the defense center. “Although he has never done that in his career,” said Favre – who was almost thievingly happy about the daring but successful improvisation: “The decision was not easy, but it was clear that Axel can do it.”
Witsel mastered the task with ease, winning 75 percent of his duels. Akanji also got a good value with 72 percent. “We are currently performing consistently in all positions – offensive and defensive,” said Akanji. The support that the defenders are now receiving is good. “It helps us further if you know that the man next to you can win the ball again,” he praised his colleagues – but also made it clear that this was not always the case.
Favre seems to have found a defensive system
The new stability even allowed Favre to take a step that he had always wanted to take, but had not dared to take for a long time. For the fifth time in a row, the coach played with a back four. “All top teams play like that,” he had already explained in the summer, but then initially played with a five-man chain again – because his team needed the third central defender as additional protection.
Meanwhile, the defensive is also without this crutch – at most, Favre is likely to return to the old system if there are very special challenges. On Saturday, when FC Bayern comes, it might be like that again.
But regardless of the basic order: The Dortmunders feel ready for Bavaria. “We’ve always played to zero recently and know that we can win at home against Bayern,” said Akanji. Licensed player manager Sebastian Kehl, who is also hoping for Hummels to return (“Mats has good healing meat”), even believes: “Bayern will have respect.”
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