Borussia Dortmund played an inspiring Champions League season. This is also thanks to Edin Terzic. A remarkable moment at the press conference after the final proves that the coach has gained in stature and standing.
By Felix Meininghaus, London
At the end of a remarkable evening, Edin Terzic found words of almost stately importance. During the press conference following the Champions League final against Real Madrid, Dortmund’s coach was asked by a Chinese journalist how he had perceived the overwhelming support of the fans at Wembley Stadium, but also during the course of the day in central London. The 41-year-old collected himself and said that after this defeat, which was as painful as it was avoidable, “the greatest challenge was to keep faith. Let us not give room to doubt.”
When the man from Menden in the Sauerland region left the podium shortly afterwards to go back to his team, the audience erupted in applause. For a question and answer session at the end of a game, in which the press representatives usually approach the protagonists with professional distance, this is a very unusual and remarkable occurrence.
Edin Terzic: suddenly a personality
There is no doubt that Edin Terzic has noticeably increased his profile in the last twelve months. In the football city of Dortmund, where it feels like 90 percent of the residents see themselves as experts, people have long viewed the coach with a fair amount of suspicion. Terzic is not able to convey a clear message to his footballing staff about how they should play the 90 minutes on the pitch. This team, with so many highly talented players, is too fickle, and the mistakes that keep happening are too puzzling.
Terzic knows that this shortcoming needs to be addressed. But Dortmund are on the right track. “We saw today what is possible with this team.” Borussia actually brought the record winners of the Champions League to the brink of defeat with an exhilarating performance, especially in the first half.
Terzic’s match plan works (again)
The fact that the Germans literally outplayed the super team from the Spanish capital was also due to Terzic’s game plan, which worked from the first minute. Dortmund was completely unimpressed by the Royal’s early attacks, combining confidently and decisively through the midfield to get their lightning-fast sprinters Adeyemi and Sancho running on the wings.
The result was five chances that BVB missed. A failure that would have bitter consequences. At first glance, classifying a 0-0 scoreline at half-time as a catastrophe seems extremely exaggerated, after all, nothing had actually happened yet. But given the way the game went and the opponent, all observers had a pretty clear idea that this would have consequences for BVB.
BVB vs. Real Madrid
Fan protests, streakers and the end of an era – the Champions League final in pictures
Hans-Joachim Watzke was not alone in his assessment. He was already skeptical after the first half, the BVB boss said, “because we didn’t score a goal despite our great superiority. You have such chances in a final, and in the end – as always – Real Madrid wins.”
Five chances ranging from big to huge were a gamble that Real Madrid would never afford. And lo and behold, the game actually took the course everyone expected in the second half. The two goals from Carvajal (after a corner from Toni Kroos) and Vinicius Junior hit the bravely defending Borussia right in the heart.
Toni Kroos: “It took a long time until we were the better team”
Toni Kroos, who has won so many titles in his glorious career and who always assumes that he will win in the end, commanded respect from the Dortmund team, brilliantly coached by Terzic. “The decisive factor today was that we didn’t concede a goal in the first half,” said Madrid’s thinker and leader: “That would have been more than possible. It took a long time before we were the better team.”
There is hardly any more praise than that, even if Terzic and his teammates can’t buy anything with it. Mats Hummels, who was once again in great form and who probably experienced his last major final at Wembley, spoke of an “extremely painful experience. We played a great game here. We played here with courage, heart and class. With everything that goes with it. And then you make a few small mistakes and Real strike. Like they’ve been doing for what feels like a hundred years.”
Edin Terzic cannot be blamed for this. He has shown that he can set up his team in such a way that they can challenge the crème de la crème in Europe. Not just in the final against Real, but also in the rounds before that against top teams such as Paris Saint Germain, Atletico Madrid, Eindhoven, AC Milan and Newcastle.
Champions League final: Hummels and Co. commented after the game
9 hours ago
The assistance of former great players such as Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender, who were appointed as Terzic’s assistant coaches last winter, was certainly helpful. The fact that the boss on the bench did not see these personnel changes as a demotion, but rather as an opportunity, is further proof that he has grown as a person.
Now it’s about taking the next step with his team to not only stand up to an opponent of Real Madrid’s caliber, but also to beat them. “We played against the most successful team in this competition and we had them,” Terzic emphasised. “We showed the whole world that we’re not here to play a final, but to win a final.” And he continued: “We did so many things right, the only difference is that they have that killer instinct. And we didn’t have that. They’re ice cold, that’s their quality.”
#Subjects
