One of the disadvantages of the Champions League is that its name is difficult to convert into melodic songs. So the Leipzig fans sang about the good old “Eurooopapokal”, with a long drawn out O of course. In fact, the Champions League is also a European Cup, so the musical accompaniment to celebrate the day was fitting. Leipzig will most likely play in the Champions League next season, that much is certain after the 4-1 win against their closest rivals. Fourth place is almost impossible for RB to take with only three games left and a five-point lead, even though coach Marco Rose said: “It’s not over yet.”
And BVB? Probably also playing in the Champions League, although that wasn’t necessarily evident from Dortmund’s faces after this heavy defeat. “I’m having a lot of trouble with that. “That was, phew, I’m at a loss for words,” Julian Brandt struggled for the right vocabulary. Some things about this defeat were difficult to explain from Dortmund’s point of view, but despite bankruptcy and fifth place, this season will probably have a happy ending.
Borussia has two faces this season, one that is not particularly attractive nationally and one that has been spruced up for the Champions League. Dortmund’s performances there, coupled with the successes of FC Bayern and Bayer Leverkusen, who are all in the semi-finals of the Champions League and Europa League, have ensured that the Bundesliga will very likely have an additional starting place in the Champions League next season League will be received. In other words, the fifth would also be there. It is already clear that BVB will not do worse than fifth place.
That took some of the explosiveness out of this duel in Leipzig, which a month ago was still considered a final. Knowing that they would probably be there and that they would be able to play in the semi-final against Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Champions League and on DAZN), BVB lacked absolute focus for over 70 minutes. “The game against Paris is of course always somewhere in the back of our minds. Nevertheless, such an appearance cannot happen to us,” said Julian Brandt.
Initial phase at eye level
The first 20 minutes of the Dortmund game are exempt from criticism. RB and BVB initially met at a level that met international standards. The guests even got off to a better start. Karim Adeyemi missed in a promising position because he mistakenly decided to pass the ball. Shortly afterwards, Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi masterfully parried a header from Niclas Füllkrug. The German international failed again a little later with his header. Overall, this was more than negligent; Dortmund should have led by at least one goal.
That happened thanks to a wonderful shot from Jadon Sancho into the top corner of the goal, but the joy of taking the lead only lasted for a short time, although referee Deniz Aytekin briefly extended the elation. When Lois Openda’s goal was scored, he first ruled it offside, but was then corrected by the video assistant. A withdrawal would have been a drama for aesthetic reasons alone. The way Xavi Simons delivered the ball to Openda with his outside instep was worth at least a starting place in the Champions League.
“That’s why we are where we are”
The goal served to demonstrate how inconsistent BVB has been in the Bundesliga this season. Dortmund had been confident until then but lost more and more control with every minute. “That’s the big theme for us this season. That’s why we are where we are,” said coach Edin Terzic. Dortmund only got five points from eight games against the four teams ahead of them.
Leipzig’s footballers sensed that Dortmund were giving in and dared to move forward with increasing speed. Against this background, there could hardly have been a better time for the 2-1 score; it came just in stoppage time in the first half. Benjamin Sesko followed up successfully when Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel blocked a shot from Xaver Schlager.
Instead of gathering themselves during the break, Dortmund faltered in the second half and were immediately missed by another effective goal. When a throw-in was thrown in, the Dortmund defense had moved up very far, and Leipzig countered purposefully via Openda, whose cross pass was only pushed over the line by Mohamed Simakan, who was running along with him. Exactly 57 seconds were played.
Dortmund’s resistance then surprisingly failed to materialize; instead, counterattack after counterattack rolled towards the goal guarded by Gregor Kobel. “We hardly managed anything defensively,” said Brandt. Luckily from Dortmund’s point of view, of the many opportunities Leipzig had, only Christoph Baumgartner scored.