With a surprising slip-up, Borussia Dortmund missed out on an anniversary victory and early entry into the knockout rounds of the Champions League. Despite a double pack from critic Julian Brandt, BVB embarrassed themselves against the blatant outsiders FK Bodö/Glimt with a 2:2 (1:1) and thus gave up their 100th success in the premier class and its predecessor competition, the national championship cup.
If they had won, coach Niko Kovac’s team would have at least secured the play-offs two games before the end of the league phase. But instead of a mandatory win at home, there was a bitter setback.
“Winner mentality sometimes means killing the game”
“Everyone plays their own game. The players who come in lose every ball. And I always say: a winning mentality sometimes means killing the game. We couldn’t do that at all,” said Nico Schlotterbeck at DAZN: “We want to make it a little nice and that’s not enough because we’re playing in the Champions League and that’s far too little. It’s not bitter, it’s just really bad.”
In the last two preliminary round games in January at Tottenham Hotspur and against Inter Milan, coach Niko Kovac’s team will be aiming to secure a good starting position for qualification for the round of 16. Haitam Aleesami scored for the Norwegian Champions League newcomer to make it 1-1 (42nd).
New club ambassador for BVB
The BVB fans had reason to celebrate before kick-off when Marco Reus returned to Dortmund a year and a half after his departure and was celebrated by the “Süd”. “I ended up spending my whole life here at the club,” said the former captain, who appeared as a DAZN expert for the first time and was quickly appointed club ambassador by BVB.
Kovac had rotated again for the game: He changed the starting eleven in four positions compared to last Sunday’s 2-0 win against TSG Hoffenheim. The team included Ramy Bensebaini, who started for the first time since the beginning of November, and Jobe Bellingham. Striker Serhou Guirassy, who had scored twelve goals in nine Champions League home games for Dortmund, was only on the bench until the 67th minute.
The Norwegians, whose season ended on November 30th, were immediately challenged on defense: Brandt’s header went just over the crossbar (5th). But the dethroned champions also had two early chances offensively through Kasper Högh (7th/12th). Since Felix Nmecha also forced goalkeeper Nikita Haikin into a save on the other side (13th), the first quarter of an hour offered more entertainment than the entire game against Hoffenheim.
The 1-0 result came from a mistake by the guests. Fabio Silva stole the ball from the Norwegians during the build-up to the game. Just two minutes later, Maximilian Beier missed a great chance to make it 2-0 with his header (20th).
Early on, Kovac had to replace defense chief Waldemar Anton, who was forced out with a thigh injury (33′). The equalizer to make it 1-1 came as a surprise: Aleesami headed in completely freely. Shortly after the break, Brandt made it 2-1 after Beier failed with a header from Haikin.
With the renewed lead behind them, Dortmund created a few chances, but missed the early preliminary decision and were shocked in the end.
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