Champions League – Borussia Dortmund: Shock and anger after 2:3 against FC Barcelona

Late on Wednesday evening, many Dortmunders were initially struck by the picture of Nico Schlotterbeck’s right foot, which popped up on social media just a few minutes after the final whistle. The defender suffered an ankle injury in the final action of the game in his vain attempt to avert BVB’s 3-2 defeat against FC Barcelona. The Yellow Wall remained silent, people with sensitive minds could hardly bear to look at the deformed joint, the defender was in danger of being out for weeks.

The coach is cooking

But that wasn’t the main reason why coach Nuri Sahin didn’t want to deal with the positive aspects of this Champions League evening. The audience was not only treated to a thrilling duel between two strong teams, but also the entire black and yellow stadium magic for which Borussia Dortmund is admired around the world. Sahin, however, was angry: “It’s boiling inside me.” The coach was already happy with his team’s overall performance, but he wanted to put his finger in the wound instead of reaching for the feel-good phrases that are often used in such cases: “If we become winners If we want to, we have to win these games. I don’t want to hear that we played a good game,” said the 36-year-old head coach.

Strong performances are not enough for Sahin. And anyone who had seen the less entertaining but almost flawless game between Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan the evening before knew exactly what he meant. There are simply teams that, beyond all dedication and regardless of individual class, play more maturely, cleverly and more disciplined than these Dortmund players. For years and also this evening.

The players make mistakes

BVB once again acted confidently and released themselves from the pressure of the difficult first half with a good level of football. Serhou Guirassy scored twice to equalize – and the dubious force, which is more of a feeling and is often described with the term “momentum”, then pointed more towards a Dortmund winning goal. If it weren’t for the same mistakes that ultimately decided this game.

Before Raphinha made it 0-1 shortly after the restart, the usually strong midfielder Felix Nmecha was not consistent enough in a duel. The second goal conceded by Ferran Torres was made possible after 75 minutes because Jamie Gittens was too careless on the wing and allowed Jules Koundé to cross undisturbed. Gittens’ carelessness four minutes before the end of the game was particularly annoying when, before Torres’ winning goal, he simply did not go to a ball that Pascal Groß had passed to him, albeit a little too imprecisely. “That just doesn’t work,” Sahin raged. “That makes me sad.”

The captain is missing

It will be interesting to see whether the young coach can get this well-known problem at BVB under control better than his predecessors. Sahin’s offensive approach to this is certainly new. In the past, those responsible have repeatedly pointed out that the team, after a period of upheaval, and the many young players are making mistakes. Sahin no longer wants to accept this explanation, which can quickly become an excuse. This is also why it is so bitter that Schlotterbeck was injured. Because the central defender has made progress in exactly the area of ​​development in which the Dortmund team repeatedly suffers setbacks: the balance between enthusiasm and seriousness. It is no coincidence that Schlotterbeck was recently a captain who led the way more convincingly than Emre Can.