Sporting Lisbon’s Pedro Goncalves (r.) Celebrated two goals against Dortmund.
Photo: imago images/Valter Gouveia
It was a strange impulse that Marco Rose followed during his first statement after the most painful experience so far as coach of Borussia Dortmund. “If it’s enough to be more uncompromising and consistent in such an important game in the Champions League, then you’ve earned it,” he said after the 3-1 defeat at Sporting Lisbon, which resulted in Dortmund being eliminated from the competition is. These words contained not only self-criticism, but also a quiet reproach to the opponent, who entered the knockout group with limited possibilities and an Otto-Rehagelian pragmatism. Rose’s eyes flashed dangerously, as if he considered it reprehensible to pollute this brilliantly radiant competition with long balls from the defensive chain to the opposing penalty area, which then – like before Pedro Goncalves’ 1-0 (30th) – to Lead gates.
Perhaps, however, a less error-prone approach to the game would have helped Dortmund’s permanently injured in this difficult game. After all, the main causes of this momentous defeat have long been well known. “We’re discussing the same mistakes over and over again this season,” said Marco Reus, alluding to his team’s chronic tendency to minor inattentions, technical errors and negligence in defending as before Goncalves’ 2-0 (39th). BVB only played once in the current season in the Bundesliga, eleven goals in five games in the Champions League are simply too many, and at some point Reus formulated a sentence that goes even one level lower. »When we have a good phase, something like this comes out today or in Amsterdam. And that throws us back in our development because we just don’t learn from it. “
That’s a tough verdict on a club that is actually admired around the world because there is a particularly good learning climate here and young players continue to mature into big stars. That process has stalled since Marco Rose became head coach. Lucien Favre has reached the round of 16 in the premier class three times in his two and a half years at BVB, and now the club has failed in the group stage for the first time since 2017. That hurts athletically; in this economically tense overall situation, but also financially. Whether and to what extent the work of the trainer is one of the reasons for this disappointment, which Rose herself described as a “cut”, is difficult to say.
Since this coach has been working in Dortmund, several important players have been constantly missing. Rose is a steward of want. Young star Erling Haaland cannot be replaced anyway, and the unauthorized red card for Mats Hummels in the 1: 3 against Amsterdam shaped this group stage. The even bigger problem was the number of failures. In the first three months of the season, two-thirds of the starting eleven were injured or ill at some point, and when those who have recovered come back, there will be a lack of fitness and match practice. That is certainly one of the reasons why Nico Schulz, who had been out for weeks before, initiated the 0: 1 after a decent start in Lisbon with a completely unsuccessful acceptance of the ball. Schulz only joined the team because Raphael Guerreiro, who was also constantly struggling with his sensitive muscles, called in sick with new problems while he was warming up.
The 3-0 (Pedro Porro on penalty, 81st) was made possible by Dan-Axel Zagadou with a completely unnecessary foul in the penalty area. After a month-long break, he was only in action for the first team for four minutes. Such mistakes can be explained with a lack of game practice.
And the fact that Emre Can saw the red card in another key scene of the game was a fitting fit for this completely unsuccessful Champions League season. The dismissal was controversial, because the TV images left the impression that Can Pedro Porro hadn’t hit Porro with his angry wiping movement after a duel (74th), but Rose said: »The fact is that we just don’t look at the referee like that Should cause a situation to come, to have to decide. «As an experienced player, Can has actually been signed for exactly such games, but this evening he was not part of the problem for the first time. The fact that Donyell Malen scored 3-1 in stoppage time and the team was “in the game” up to 1-0, as Rose noted, was no consolation. Lisbon was “simply more uncompromising and more consistent in certain situations.” This observation sounded suspiciously like the mentality debate so hated in Dortmund, but so many factors play a role this autumn that exact analyzes are equally difficult for those involved and observers.
And there is still the Europa League, which initially feels second-rate. But in this competition the Dortmunders are now among the title candidates. This unstable BVB could play many exciting games in Europe in the coming year instead of just two round of 16 duels in the premier class against any team that is too strong for Marco Rose’s project.
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