Borussia Dortmund: tears and anger – BVB is on the ground

Et were images that should be burned into the fans’ memories. Mats Hummels, who sits on the lawn and cries so hard that his upper body trembles. Marco Reus hugging Mahmoud Dahoud and letting the tears flow. For the BVB captain, who has never been champion, it was possibly the last chance for this title. Karim Adeyemi rolled on the floor like a desperate child. The description of the horror that could be seen in Dortmund on Saturday after the final whistle could be continued indefinitely. With all due caution in using the term in this context, it was a catastrophe.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate FC Bayern on the German championship,” said Edin Terzic, who was the first to find words. The championship, according to the BVB trainer, is “the most honest title” – and whoever is at the top after 34 match days “is deservedly at the top”. In relation to himself and his team, however, it feels “empty and unfair”. Sebastian Kehl said it was one of the most difficult moments he’s ever experienced. And the BVB sports director knows from his own experience what a lost Champions League final and a lost World Cup final feel like.

It’s hard to predict how long it will take the players, the fans and most importantly the club to get over this traumatic showdown of the season. There are moments when the sadness is simply too great to be able to say that you are convinced that you will get up and attack again. When asked how long it would take him to process what happened, Emre Can answered, as honestly as he felt comfortable at the moment: “I don’t know. Maybe not at all.”

There was a lot of anticipation – maybe too much

On this 34th match day it became clear that being a popular traditional club is both a curse and a blessing. An entire city had prepared for this day: bakeries had covered their tarts and cakes with black and yellow icing. School children had formed the BVB emblem in the playground. The pubs had stashed away vast amounts of beer barrels and set up outside counters. Church services were held for the championship. The city of Dortmund had marked out the route for the triumphal procession on Sunday. Up to 300,000 people were expected for the big party. There was a lot of anticipation. Maybe too much.

In any case, there was too much pressure for an unfinished side that, in all fairness, no one seriously believed at the start of the season would have any chance of winning the championship. In November, when the Bundesliga was interrupted by the World Cup break, BVB were sixth, nine points behind Bayern. Terzic’s team only took off after the turn of the year and became a home power. 14 of the 17 home games could be won, mostly clearly and convincingly.

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There have always been setbacks, which made it clear that this team has potential but is not stable. Dortmund found it difficult to control a game. But after last weekend, when Bayern lost to Leipzig and BVB won in Augsburg the following day, hardly anyone expected them to let the title be snatched away.

That made this renewed failure against Mainz all the more shocking. Suddenly it was this other, despondent Borussia that was 2-0 down after 24 minutes – against an opponent who was solid but weak in terms of replacements and for whom nothing was at stake. There were huge gaps in Dortmund’s midfield, the defense was confused, the attacks rushed and imprecise.

Tried, but wooden

“I can not grasp it exactly,” said Mats Hummels. The goals conceded and the penalty missed by Sébastien Haller would have impressed the team. After that, BVB just needed too long to find themselves again. The catch-up race with the goals of Raphael Guerreiro (69th) and Niklas Süle (90th + 6) came too late. Everything seemed tried, but wooden. And anything but masterful. The 2:2 (0:2) was not enough, Bayern won 2:1 (1:0) in Cologne.

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Nevertheless, and even if that seems more unlikely than ever these days: Dortmund have shown in the season that is coming to an end that they may be able to play for the title in the coming years. The prerequisite for this, however, would be to continue the personnel change that was initiated last summer. Players like Niklas Süle, Nico Schlotterbeck, Salih Özcan, Karim Adeyemi and Haller, who has only been able to play since January due to cancer, all turned out to be reinforcements. BVB has not had such a success rate in transfers for a long time.

Although Jude Bellingham will probably not be retained, his sale will bring in a lot of money, well over 100 million euros. And besides: Who knows whether the personnel changes that Bayern want to tackle now will help the competitor regain old stability? It’s not set in stone that such an exciting title fight has to remain the exception.

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However, Dortmund lost their greatest chance of winning the championship in eleven years – negligently and stupidly. BVB is emotionally on the ground. “I don’t know if it will take a day, a week or a month,” said Terzic: “But then we’ll try to do better.”