Football Bundesliga: “Greed” at BVB is back: Champions League within reach

A few weeks ago, an unthinkable, now a realistic scenario: Borussia Dortmund is well on the way to saving the season on the last minute. While the competition is constantly failing, BVB is fully there in the decisive phase. “We worked out a bit.

Even the renewed Champions League qualification is back in two game days before the end of the season for the previous year’s finalist. “If we win both games, we are very likely to be there,” said Kehl before the outstanding tasks at Bayer Leverkusen and against Holstein Kiel. For the first time since the 12th matchday, BVB is again in the top 5 of the league half a year later.

“I thought it was possible and I also believed it,” Kehl said after the third win and the sixth game without defeat in a row. “I see a big greed,” said Kehl.

A lot had looked very different just seven weeks ago. Dortmund was the table and had seven points behind a conference League place. Far too little for the proud club, which sees itself as number two in German football. The BVB world had stuck. There was speculation about the future of Kehl and it was anything but certain that the new coach Niko Kovac, which had only come in early February, stayed beyond the season. All of this has long been forgotten.

The reasons for the upswing

Because Kovac turned the right adjustment screws. His change from a four-person to a chain of three was in the right place and stabilized the unsettled team. “That feels good. We have been playing a very stable football for weeks,” said midfielder Pascal Groß, who praised Kovac in general: “He is very clear in his speech. Everyone always knows where they are.”

Of course, the BVB coach was also on Saturday evening. “I was not satisfied at all with the first half, we just didn’t play well,” Kovac stuck. In fact, the game did not look like 4: 0 in the first half. The Westphalia played without ideas, without any esprit. “We were too static, always ran like a wiper,” said Kovac. Whatever he said at half time.

In addition, the Dortmunders benefit extremely from the shape of their striker Serhou Guirassy, ​​who scored his second half of the season eleven and twelve against Wolfsburg. No other Bundesliga player scored more often during this time. “Borussia Dortmund has to play there. Now we have a good position, now it is up to us,” said Guirassy at Sky about his team’s Champions League chances.

In the crucial phase of the season, BVB also benefits from hardly having any failures. The bank against Wolfsburg was occupied on Saturday with captain Emre Can, Marcel Sabitzer, Carney Chukwuemeka and Karim Adeyemi Exquisit. As a substitute, Adeyemi also shot a double pack with anger in her stomach over his reservist role.

“When people swing up, we all have a benefit,” said Kovac about the current competitive situation. The serious injury to Nico Schlotterbeck (meniscus tear), the permanent form crisis of Julian Brandt or sloping services, such as Daniel Svensson on Saturday, is currently being well compensated for.

“We are on a really good way, took big steps. It encourages me that it can do this team,” said Kehl, praising: “Niko did a really good job.”

However, the truth also includes: Without the weakness of many other teams, BVB alone could no longer have put itself in this position.