It has become a ritual. Almost every February she is with us in the quarterfinals. This is the seventh year out of the last nine years that the Champions League anthem will be played in the knockout stage for Borussia Dortmund players when they take to the pitch tonight. (Wednesday, 22:00, 5PLUS) At Sanchez Pijuan in Sevilla for the first game. But this time a real danger hovers over the heads of the German club, who next season, will find themselves along with 80,000 fans (hopefully), cheering on the team at another factory. The Europa League or even the Conference League to shame.
The home draw against Hoffenheim (2: 2) last Saturday, left Dortmund in sixth place in the Bundesliga 6 points away from fourth place leading to the home stage of the Champions League. Just two months ago the yellow-blacks were level on points with Bayern Munich, but now the gap is 16 from the top. The ongoing crisis at Zignon Idona Park has already claimed a victim – coach Lucian Fabre Potter – and in his place has been appointed Edin Trezic, inexperienced and starting this week the identity of the coach for next season has already been revealed: Marco Rosa.
The shock did not work and the result is four league losses in the 12 games since the change of chairs. “Dortmund excel at finding ways to lose or end in a draw, even when they play well. Either it does not take its chances, or it lacks cohesion in the midfield or simply snatches ridiculous goals from stationary and avoidable situations,” the Bundesliga expert wrote of her. Raphael Honigstein In athletics. “That kind of mediocrity won’t lead her to finish in the top 4. Not even in such a weird season.”
Terzic is the flesh and blood of Dortmund. The Croatian-German was born and raised in the town of Manden, just 45 km from Dortmund. And returned to serve as Fabre’s right-hand man in the senior team in 2018. Last December, he received his temporary appointment with the yellow-blacks, until the end of the season.
The 38-year-old coach soon ran into all the problems of his predecessor in office. Instability that is expressed from game to game and highlights the weaknesses in the defensive game and the lack of punch in the attack, despite all the talent inherent, with the result often a loss of points against the small teams and a rapid deterioration in the table. “The whole quality of the team is worth nothing if the attitude, mentality and head are not there,” claims Sky commentator, Didi Haman, Who points an accusing finger at the professional staff. “Commitment and desire are lacking. There is no hierarchy in the team and no one to lead the way. It is not the small details, Dortmund are simply baseless.”
The original thought was that Strezich would bring a new attitude and spirit to the team after Fabre’s dismissal, and in practice – a drag on time until the professional problems arose again. Meanwhile, the club’s leaders have managed to close the contract for next season with Marco Rosa, the esteemed coach of Mönchengladbach. Rosa, who excelled in Salzburg and promoted Gladbach to the last eight of the Champions League, is one of the best coaches on the market and there is no doubt that his arrival in the summer could spark Dortmund’s game. The question is will Rosa get the club in the Champions League next season?
Dortmund’s problem is not just about the lines. Terezic is not the only one who serves as an interim solution. Arlind Holland for example, who has averaged a goal per game just over a year since arriving from Salzburg, is of course the immediate suspect she shared to go to a more accomplished club, and probably a richer one, real soon. And what about his partner? Since the summer in which Dortmund blocked Jadon Sancho from leaving Manchester United, the English talent has not hurt and has dropped significantly in numbers after a record season last year. It goes without saying that at the end of the season both sides will say goodbye. It was recently reported in the WAZ that if Dortmund do not qualify for the Champions League next season, not only the Netherlands and Sancho are candidates to leave, but six other senior players.
Dortmund has been broadcasting in recent years to every player at the beginning of the road that it is the best place to nurture young people in Europe. Therefore, it is not surprising that she also gives a lot of opportunities this year to youngsters like Giovanni Reina (18) and Jude Bellingham (17) and started running Yusufa Mokoku (16) who is supposed to be the next sensation of European football. But with so many young people not seeing the forest and in fact instead of fertile ground a rocky soil has been created on which the team pays the price of inexperience, instability and naivety every cycle in the Bundesliga. The club has not been able to rise and compete for the championship and in the Champions League has not had any significant achievement since Klopp left.
It is true to say that the Corona has gnawed this season at the possibility of Dortmund becoming stronger and an alternative to Bayern. It is still not an excuse to move too far away from Leipzig which does things differently and in a balanced and considered way. The startup of courting young players from all over the continent may reap economic rewards in the long run, but fails to obscure the structural problems in the roster. Dortmund have not had a senior goalkeeper for many years, with all due respect to Roman Burki and his replacement Marvin Hitz, who are responsible for quite a few direct goals. Axel Whitsell’s serious injury last month (finishing the season) left an abyss in the yellow-black back link, and the fact that there is no proven striker on the Dortmund bench (who will back Holland) only underscores the magnitude of the failure in construction.
Even in a season defined as catastrophic by the German media, there is always some hope that Dortmund’s great potential on offense will explode. At times, the front trio – Holland, Sancho and Marco Royce – can issue highlights that will not embarrass video editors at the Champions League digital headquarters. We saw this happen in the impressive 1: 3 at the Leipzig Red Bull Arena just a few weeks ago. It may actually erupt against disciplined and orderly Sevilla (though I would not bet on it), but the truth is that even if it does, we will probably remember it as a flicker. Dortmund need a change in managerial and professional approach to fulfill the hopes of its fans. It is currently just a transit station.