Borussia Dortmund has historically been one of the best teams in Germany. They won the UEFA Champions League in 1997 and won five Bundesliga titles. Their rivalry with the other best team in Germany, Bayern Munich, often results in classic matches both in the Bundesliga and in European competition. They have some of the best fan support in the world and the Westfalenstadion is a place on almost every soccer fans “bucket list” as a place to watch a game. But all this history and support can’t protect what Borussia Dortmund has been going through in the Bundesliga this season.
The team who has finished in the top two in the last four years, currently sits 15th out of 18 teams after 11 of 34 games. Before the game against Monchengladbach, Dortmund was stone dead last. If Dortmund was in this position in August or September, I wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. Even in October, there’s still plenty of time to turn it around. Now that they’re getting into November, it’s time to start getting worried. They’re not in full panic mode yet but they probably have found the panic button and are hovering over it like a mama bird hovers over her chicks. This has been their season so far:
Loss – 0-2 vs. Bayer Leverkusen (currently 6th)
Win – 2-3 at Augsburg (7th)
Win – 3-1 vs. Freiburg (13th)
Loss – 2-0 at Mainz 05 (8th)
Draw – 2-2 vs. VfB Stuttgart (18th)
Loss – 2-1 at Schalke (11th)
Loss – 0-1 vs. Hamburger (17th)
Loss – 2-1 at FC Koln (10th)
Loss – 0-1 vs. Hannover (4th)
Loss – 2-1 at Bayern Munich (1st)
Win – 1-0 vs. Borussia Monchengladbach (4th)
As you can see, that stretch of losses really sunk Dortmund to the bottom depths of the table. Granted, the game against Bayern is tough regardless of how good they are but some of the other games were winnable. The draw against Stuttgart and the loss against Hamburger were daggers because they were a couple missed opportunities for points against possible relegated teams.
Not everything is bad with BVB. If their form in the Bundesliga is really dreadful, it’s a complete “180” and everything is all rosy on the European side. In Champions League, Dortmund literally cannot lose. After four rounds, Dortmund is top of Group D after beating Arsenal, Anderlecht and Galatasaray (twice) by a combined score of 13-1. So exactly what is the problem surrounding Dortmund this season? The team is certainly talented; they’re handedly beating some of the best teams in Europe. Their form in the league is very suspect and needs delving into.
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