Julian Brandt blew hard and took a long sip from the water bottle in annoyance. The double packer and his team mates grumpily high-fived him. Because: His two goals were not enough for a mandatory win against FK Bodö/Glimt in the Champions League.
With a surprising slip-up, Borussia Dortmund missed out on an anniversary victory and early entry into the knockout rounds. Despite a double pack from the critic Brandt, BVB embarrassed themselves against the outsiders with a 2:2 (1:1) and thus gave up their 100th success in the premier class and its predecessor competition, the national championship cup.
“Everyone plays their own game. The players who come in lose every ball. And I always say: a winning mentality sometimes means killing the game. We couldn’t manage that at all,” said Nico Schlotterbeck at Dazn: “We want to make it a little nice and that’s not enough. We play the Champions League and that’s far too little. It’s not bitter, it’s just really bad.”
If they had won, coach Niko Kovac’s team would have at least secured the play-offs two games before the end of the league phase.
Brandt, of all people, who had recently criticized the style of play (“Not my way of playing football”), scored twice in his 500th professional game (18th/51st), his second goal was also Dortmund’s 300th goal in the Champions League. But the fans couldn’t celebrate, Jens Petter Hauge (75th) equalized out of nowhere.
In the last two preliminary round games in January at Tottenham Hotspur and against Inter Milan, coach Niko Kovac’s team will be aiming to secure a good starting position for qualification for the round of 16. Haitam Aleesami scored for the Norwegian Champions League newcomer to make it 1-1 (42nd).
The BVB fans had reason to celebrate before kick-off when Marco Reus returned to Dortmund a year and a half after his departure and was celebrated by the “Süd”. “I ended up spending my whole life here at the club,” said the former captain, who appeared as a Dazn expert for the first time – and was quickly appointed club ambassador by BVB.
Kovac had rotated again for the game: He changed the starting eleven in four positions compared to last Sunday’s 2-0 win against TSG Hoffenheim – the team included Ramy Bensebaini, who started for the first time since the beginning of November, and Jobe Bellingham. Striker Serhou Guirassy, who had scored twelve goals in nine Champions League home games for Dortmund, was only on the bench until the 67th minute.
Dortmund misses scoring the third goal
The Norwegians, whose season ended on November 30th, were immediately challenged on defense: Brandt’s header went just over the crossbar (5th). But the dethroned champions also had two early chances offensively through Kasper Högh (7th/12th). Since Felix Nmecha also forced goalkeeper Nikita Haikin into a save on the other side (13th), the first quarter of an hour offered more entertainment than the entire game against Hoffenheim.
The 1-0 result came from a mistake by the guests. Fabio Silva stole the ball from the Norwegians during the build-up to the game. Just two minutes later, Maximilian Beier missed a great chance to make it 2-0 with a header (20′). Early on, Kovac had to replace defense chief Waldemar Anton, who was forced out with a thigh injury (33′). The equalizer to make it 1-1 came as a surprise: Aleesami headed in completely freely. Shortly after the break, Brandt made it 2-1 after Beier failed with a header from Haikin. With the renewed lead behind them, Dortmund created a few chances, but missed the early preliminary decision – and were shocked in the end.