Dhe football has come into an age where it is difficult for supporters to celebrate goals in a truly carefree manner, since there is always a risk that the video assistant will uncover some irregularity and have the goal annulled. But this unpleasant mechanism was only one reason why the action most passionately acclaimed by Dortmunders after their 2-1 win against RB Leipzig did not result in a goal.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Nico Schlotterbeck blocked a ball on the goal line for the already beaten keeper Alexander Meyer with his shoulder and thus saved this valuable victory. That was not only the culmination of a rousing defensive battle that the title aspirant from Revier had to fight out in the second half of this football game, which was beguilingly beautiful in many phases, but also a moment of great symbolic power. “At this level, it’s not just the form on the day and the quality that count, but also the willingness to support each other,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.
Exactly this form of cooperation, being there for each other, is increasingly becoming the main motive of BVB’s unbelievable winning streak in 2023, which the team has expanded to ten competitive wins in a row. Marco Reus scored the penalty to make it 1-0 (21st), Emre Can made it 2-0 after a corner (39th), but in most phases of the game it wasn’t the offensive that was the focus, it was the collaborative work to prevent goals. “It wasn’t a good second half,” Schlotterbeck admitted, because BVB was very lucky that RB only managed to get the goal back (Forsberg, 74′). But the overall impression already indicates that the eternal second in the Bundesliga is just getting a grip on a permanent problem of the past ten years.
Marco Reus als zentrale Figur
A bit revealing was a sentence by Marco Reus, who said on club TV: “We had to work very, very hard for success, but at the moment it is very worth it.” It sounded like there were times when In his eyes, this work was not worth it. The captain thus supported the thesis that performance culture was a major problem in day-to-day business during the many years in the Bundesliga, in which Dortmund was panting behind Bayern without a chance. Reus himself has often been accused of being part of this problem, because in all those years he has hardly ever managed to lead the way as a defensive leader during a whole season as a strong leader.
On this Friday evening he scored his 159th goal for Dortmund and drew level with Michael Zorc in this statistic, which the attacker himself found “a bit surreal”. And yet Reus has to fear week after week that he will not be set up. In addition, he is no longer used in his favorite position in midfield and will have to forego salary if the contract is extended, which is currently being negotiated. All of this seems to do him good.
In any case, Reus was actually involved in this top game as consistently and persistently as rarely on the defensive. “He defended on the wing, which isn’t really his position,” Terzic praised his captain, who had repeatedly fought in his own penalty area in the past. But hardly a game went by in which he didn’t stop working for the collective at individual moments. This is no longer possible with the new BVB, as Terzic and sports director Sebastian Kehl imagine.
After the title years of 2011 and 2012, the idea of a club was born that, as a second beacon next to FC Bayern and part of an elite circle of the 15 largest clubs in Europe, is no longer perceived as an outsider. Now they have taken up this outsider attitude again, which was also cultivated by Jürgen Klopp in the sweet years at the beginning of the last decade. Rarely was that seen as in the second half against Leipzig.
RB coach Marco Rose spoke of a “game for a goal for 45 minutes” because his team almost crushed BVB with their dominance. But the professionals of the table leader, who was new until Saturday evening at least, threw themselves into every ball and went every way. “The goal defense was outstanding today. How everyone fought back. Will, passion, commitment, all of that was great again today,” said Kehl, who didn’t care that a lot of luck was also needed for this win.
Because the lead over Leipzig in the Bundesliga has now grown to nine points, and it is precisely the outsider qualities with which Dortmund survived this evening that could also be the key to reaching the quarter-finals next Tuesday in the Champions League second leg at Chelsea. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who complained about muscular problems after the warm-up and was replaced by Meyer, may even be able to play again. But his good performance also fitted well into the picture of the functioning collective that Dortmund is currently giving away.
