EIt was quite a colorful collection of different stories that the BVB game against SC Freiburg had to tell, which Dortmund finally won 5-1 (1-1). That part of the audience who first and foremost likes human dramas with happy endings was able to enjoy the first goal for BVB from Sebastién Haller, who has recovered from cancer, and headed it 3-1.
The supporters of the Revierklub were also able to celebrate the fourth win in the fourth competitive game of 2023, at least for one night the team of coach Edin Terzic is level on points with Bayern Munich. Captain Marco Reus made his comeback from the start after a month-long break, and the Dortmund fans chanted: “BVB is back!”. And then there is the story of the Freiburgers, who – as is so often the case in Dortmund – snuck off the lawn as beaten dogs and ultimately lost their trainer as well.
“I have a certain fatalism when we come here, that’s why I’m beyond the brutal anger,” Christian Streich had claimed before the game because he had never won as a coach in Dortmund. Now it took less than 16 minutes until he was brutally annoyed. Streich had already complained when Kilian Sildillia was given a yellow card after 15 minutes for hitting Karim Adeyemi in the face with his hand in a tackle. 73 seconds later, the right-back grabbed Adeyemi and was sent off with a second yellow card.
Streich raged that he had “lacked the proportionality”, he later said and mentioned a foul by Niklas Süle on Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, which was very similar to the action before Sildillia’s first card and went completely unpunished. In fact, the consequences of that referee’s decision on this top-flight game were more brutal than Sildillia’s infractions. Deniz Aytekin had refrained from showing Jude Bellingham yellow and red in a similar situation in BVB’s duel against Bayern in autumn; he didn’t want to influence the game too much, was his reasoning. The same argument would have been appropriate in this situation, but referee Robert Schröder decided differently, which was technically correct. “It was extremely bitter and doesn’t make it any easier here,” said Freiburg captain Christian Günter.
That set the direction for this game. Dortmund had a lot of possession and Nico Schlotterbeck scored from an extremely tight angle after a poorly cleared corner to make it 1-0 for Dortmund (26′). After 25 minutes, the corner ratio was 8:0, Freiburg attempts to rest with possession of the ball failed again and again. However, BVB hardly posed a goal threat before the break.
Reus, who is a specialist in football solutions in tight spaces, also remained pale for a long time. And indeed, Freiburg made it 1-1 before half-time when Lukas Höler threw a random ball in front of his foot, which he used to equalise. The question now was which team and which coach would take the better half-time measures, and it took less than ten minutes for the answer to be clear: Borussia Dortmund. At first, Adeyemi from Freiburg left far too much space in the penalty area, making it 2-1 (48′) before Haller finally scored his celebrated goal (51′). “You’re floating on a cloud, the whole stadium was ‘on fire’ just like my team-mates,” said Haller.
Freiburg, who played outnumbered, never recovered from this double blow. Julian Brandt, who was strong again, scored the 4:1 (69th), Reyna followed up with the 5:1 (82nd), and Streich, like before, saw his player Sildillia yellow-red (77th) and will be in the home game against VfB Stuttgart will be represented by his assistants next weekend. At first he complained, and then commented on the first card with ironic applause, it wasn’t Freiburg’s day. “I’m really annoyed with myself, of course that doesn’t help the team,” said Streich. Dortmund, on the other hand, were lucky. “I think the team has built up a good rhythm now. We find each other now,” said sporting director Sebastian Kehl.
Dortmund can once again dream a little of a great season, especially since the astonishing statements by Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer revealed serious internal problems with the record champions. Kehl did not want to confirm 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,” recalled the sports director, before he also said: “With we can be counted on.”
