Friedrich Merz certainly did not see football at an exquisite level during his first visit to a Bundesliga game as Chancellor. And the CDU politician certainly felt a fair amount of resentment from Hans-Joachim Watzke, who is known for his tension.
In the morning, the President of BVB gave a laudatory speech for Merz, who was awarded the “Great Stutenkerl” by the WEST Bakers’ Guild Association in Dortmund. He then saw BVB playing very incorrectly with a black and yellow scarf around his neck.
“As is so often the case for us, it was a rollercoaster ride.”
He probably left the stadium satisfied because he was able to witness a BVB drama at the end, with a winning goal to make it 3-2, which Emre Can scored from a penalty deep in stoppage time. “As is often the case with us this season, it was a roller coaster ride,” said Can, who somehow saved this complicated day. But Dortmund remain a team of internal contradictions.
The points account is very well filled and the results are impressive. But the team keeps tormenting their audience with a style of play that doesn’t actually seem to suit this squad, which is made up of many strong footballers.
Like SV Werder Bremen during the week, Hamburg found good ways to disrupt BVB’s game. “Finding the necessary space wasn’t easy. We didn’t make it easy for ourselves either,” said coach Niko Kovač. “We simply have too many misplays and too many impurities in our game.”
When added time in the first half began, it was conceivable that parts of the audience would whistle again during the break. Just like at halftime of the game against Bremen on Tuesday. This time, however, the team managed to score the opening goal in stoppage time in the first half.
Karim Adeyemi finally broke through on the right wing and tried to pass to Silva. However, he missed the ball, whereupon Brandt suddenly just had to push in a few meters in front of the goal. This lead somehow reflected the performances, because BVB was superior. But the game certainly didn’t look like a duel between the second-placed team and the second-to-last team.
Alexander Blessin’s team also had a few chances to finish and for a moment the Hamburg team even thought they would be allowed to take a hand penalty. But the referee Harm Osmers reversed the decision, according to the TV images, because Silva had his arm close to his body when he was hit (18th).
And so the afternoon after the break seemed to take the expected course. Because at the end of the most beautiful move of the game via Brandt and Silva, Adeyemi scored the 2-0 (54th), the efficient Kovač-BVB was on the direct path to a very unspectacular victory.
But FC St. Pauli was a strong opponent and fought back. “I thought we were well inside the whole game,” said Hauke Wahl after his team actually managed to make it 2-1 and 2-2 through two standard situations. “We have to play it down better,” said Can after James Sands headed a corner into the goal (62nd) and Ricky-Jade Jones extended a free kick into the net (72nd).
“What the team did there was unbelievable. Afterwards I even had the feeling that we were closer to 3-2,” said coach Blessin, “all in all it’s a very bitter defeat.”
Only with a lot of luck and with the help of the video assistant, on whose advice Osmers finally whistled the decisive penalty, did Dortmund still win. Ricky-Jade Jones hit Maximilian Beier in the leg on the penalty area line. “The team still has the will, the belief. The victory was certainly very important,” said Kovač.
The coach is right when he points out the successes, the many points and the place in the table. But at best, stadium football is also entertainment, especially in Dortmund. At the moment, many games are difficult and tough, which may be due to the coach’s focus on stability and seriousness. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand why proven offensive experts such as Adeyemi, Brandt, Silva, Felix Nmecha, Serhou Guirassy and Beier are currently having so much trouble combining a dedicated style of play with strong attacking football.
Dortmund’s greatest strength this season is actually evident in a place where its greatest weaknesses have been in the recent past. World-class people like Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham are missing from the squad, but there is an impressive will to win that has made the team very stable.
