First goal for Sébastien Haller (nd-aktuell.de)

Julian Brandt has already experienced a lot in his three and a half years as a BVB player, but this special mixture of joy, compassion and liberation, which erupted in an emotional explosion on Saturday afternoon, also impressed this experienced Dortmund player. “I’ve rarely seen a stadium shout a name so loudly,” Brandt said of the celebrations after striker Sébastien Haller’s first competitive goal to make it 3-1 against SC Freiburg in the 51st minute; and people with a penchant for fateful events could say: “That’s exactly how it had to happen!” It was World Cancer Day, on which Haller scored his first Bundesliga goal after overcoming testicular cancer, he had printed “Fuck Cancer” on his shoes. Borussia Dortmund also used the day for a number of campaigns promoting early detection measures to fight cancer. And now Haller has not only fulfilled his wish for a Bundesliga goal that will help his team, but also the dream of a goal party with the famous south stand.

“You’re floating on your cloud, the whole stadium was ‘on fire’, just like my team-mates,” the striker later said of the moment he headed the ball into the goal in front of the fans, and coach Edin Terzić explained: ” The fact that it was an important goal, that it fell in front of the yellow wall, rounds it all off.« The story of Haller, who, as the most important summer transfer, was out for months after his tumor diagnosis, accompanies the Dortmund season just like the fickleness that cost that many points before Christmas. That’s why this goal caused “pure goosebumps,” said Karim Adeyemi, who also contributed a goal in the clear 5-1 win against Freiburg, who were outnumbered for more than 70 minutes after a yellow-red card for Kiliann Sildillia. Everyone had bathed her in that moment, but it was also the day Haller’s involvement might have entered a new phase of normality.

There was the first test match in the winter training camp, the first substitution in the Bundesliga, the first starting eleven nomination and now the first competitive goal – but the time for premieres is slowly coming to an end. “Of course everything about the story is extremely special, and you’re all the more happy for a person,” said Brandt. “But it’s also important what skills he brings with him, the athletic ability that we’ve been missing for half a year.” Haller’s presence in the penalty area and his header power should become an important factor in the coming months, and progress is still needed here. Beyond his goal it was clear that Haller is not yet the powerful top striker he was in his prime. But he is part of a development that Terzić highlighted after the fourth win in the fourth Bundesliga game in 2023: One realization of these first weeks of the year is that the “toolbox is getting bigger” from which he can use, says Terzić.

Confidence is great again; Where all this is supposed to lead is still somewhat unclear. »Who will be German champion? BVB Borussia!«, the fans chanted, and before the season several players had indicated that the Bundesliga title played a role in the considerations. But Haller’s illness, many injuries and weaker phases in sport had blown away such thoughts. Now much seems possible again. Captain Marco Reus played inconspicuously, but was back in the starting XI for the first time since suffering a foot injury in September. Karim Adeyemi followed up his first Bundesliga goal in the win in Leverkusen a week earlier with a second goal and seems mature in the game against the ball. Marius Wolf has become a really strong full-back, and FC Bayern has suffered, not least after the harsh criticism that captain Manuel Neuer formulated of the conditions at the record champions.

Sports director Sebastian Kehl did not initially agree with the thesis that this would increase BVB’s chances of winning the title. Bayern “have always been able to deal with critical issues well in the past,” Kehl recalled. But Dortmund’s sports director also said: “You can count on us.”