Livened up the Dortmund game and had a great chance to equalize shortly before the end: BVB professional Julian Brandt Image: AFP
Borussia Dortmund played a “horrible” first half in the quarter-final first leg against Atlético Madrid, but gained some hope late on for the second leg. Was there a strategy error on the part of the coach?
High-class football is played all year round somewhere in the world, and special dramas full of twists and turns are a regular phenomenon in this company. But when the big clubs visit each other in Europe’s major cities for their Champions League duels in the spring, a magic of their own is guaranteed. As if those involved had just been waiting throughout the grueling autumn and long winter for things to finally get started.
The stadiums are getting a little louder and the players are discovering energy reserves hidden somewhere in their bodies and heads. And sometimes a few unknown fears, insecurities and characteristics come to the fore.