After restless days and general criticism from Nico Schlotterbeck, Borussia Dortmund said goodbye to its followers from 2025 with a lackluster victory. BVB won 2-0 (1-0) against Borussia Mönchengladbach and moved, at least temporarily, to second place in the table behind FC Bayern Munich.
In contrast to the staid performances in the league against SC Freiburg and in the Champions League against FK Bodö/Glimt, BVB did not suffer from a long period of weakness this time. After Julian Brandt’s early opening goal (10th), Dortmund managed the game and was mostly in control of the game against harmless Gladbachers. Maximilian Beier (90+7) scored at the last second to make the final score.
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BVB collected an impressive 32 points from the first 15 games of the season, with their only defeat coming in Munich. Dortmund has noticeably stabilized under coach Niko Kovac, but things didn’t always go smoothly. Schlotterbeck had recently clearly criticized his teammates, for which Dortmund advisor Matthias Sammer again showed understanding. Defense chief Schlotterbeck, around whom BVB wants to build its team of the future, is probably reluctant to extend his contract because of the recurring problems. And against Mönchengladbach, Dortmund once again made too little use of their superiority.
After Brandt had put his team in the lead after a cross from Niklas Süle, Dortmund slowed down several gears and initially only created one big chance: Karim Adeyemi (29th) was denied by Moritz Nicolas when he was free. Gladbach now got into the game a little better and put more pressure on Dortmund’s improvised three-man chain with Süle, Schlotterbeck and Emre Can.
Beier scores at the second attempt
The game remained at a moderate level, but things got intense in the second half. Can cleared the former Dortmund player Gio Reyna (53rd) and was shown the yellow card for it, as was Schlotterbeck (59th), who in turn accused Reitz of acting. Coach Kovac then took the angry Adeyemi off the pitch to calm the game down a bit. The national player was still discussing things on the bench with sports director Sebastian Kehl. At least BVB now showed the passion that Schlotterbeck demanded and stood up to it. When Maximilian Beier, who replaced Adeyemi, went down in the penalty area after a challenge with Nico Elvedi, the Dortmund spectators loudly demanded a penalty. However, referee Felix Jablonski did not recognize a foul and allowed play to continue (72′).
So the game remained open despite Dortmund’s superiority. Gladbach now tried to increase the pressure a little, which gave BVB space for counterattacks. Beier first missed with a free shot in front of Nicolas to make it 2-0 (89th), then he did better a little later.
