Dhe question only triggered a loud sigh from BVB captain Marco Reus. The 32-year-old clearly had no desire to talk about the shortened gap to Bundesliga leaders FC Bayern Munich. “We already said last week that we have to concentrate on ourselves,” said the double goal scorer after the game at 1. FC Union Berlin on DAZN on Sunday.
After the comfortable 3-0 victory in Köpenick, BVB now wants to show on Thursday evening (6.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and on RTL +) in the Europa League at home against Glasgow Rangers that the team has more consistency in can get his benefits. You became cautious in Dortmund. Too often strong performances this season have been followed by severe setbacks. “If we play so inconsistently, we can’t deal with the front,” said Reus. You have to get stability in the results and the services.
A declaration of war of any kind against leaders Bayern Munich was also sought in vain from the other players and officials at Borussia Dortmund. “I think that in order to measure ourselves against a team like Bayern in the league, we have to do even more on the pitch,” said defender Mats Hummels.
“Disciplined and mature”
Captain Reus had led the way at the An der Alten Försterei stadium, where Union had previously lost just one of 26 Bundesliga games. He scored the first goal without frills, but with the second he got a free ball with a lot of consistency and urged forward. “That was a really good game from us,” he said. “We are happy that we kept a clean sheet. Hopefully that will give us a bit of stability.” BVB’s celebrations after the game were restrained. Nevertheless, Reus said that one should first enjoy the victory after a strenuous week.
Coach Marco Rose called the performance “disciplined and mature”, the captain thought it was “serious”. Showing these qualities consistently in the coming weeks is probably one of the most important things for Dortmund.
Reus and Rose also remained cautious with regard to the ambitions in the Europa League. “It’s a new competition for us. A lot of us haven’t played it yet. Of course there’s also a trophy to win,” said the 32-year-old. Rose said the Scots are endowed with a lot of pace, especially on the left wing. In the home stadium, the Rangers are a force. “But we only have them at home, we have to present them.”
But despite all caution, one thing is also clear: After losing out in the Champions League and DFB Cup and the still considerable gap to Bayern in the league, the competition, which has been derided time and again as the “Losers’ Cup”, is probably the best chance for the title that the BVB still has this season. “This is the title that Borussia Dortmund is still missing,” said managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke after the end of the premier class and declared winning the title as a clear goal.
