At the start of the season Bayern Munich might have been gazing across Germany with a sheen of cold sweat forming on their ageing backs looking at a young, vibrant team in the heart of the Rhur raring to begin their league campaign.
Bayern had just come off a gruelling season taking home the treble, with only three weeks of pre-season before the grind started all over again.
Dortmund had managed to keep Jadon Sancho out of the clutches of Man Utd whilst unearthing one of the best strikers in the world in Erling Haaland. It looked as though for the first time in nine seasons the Bundesliga title was heading out of Munich.
How wrong we were.
Having past the halfway stage in Bundesliga 2020/21 Bayern Munich once again sit at the summit of the table, seven points clear of their nearest challengers and an insurmountable thirteen ahead of Klassiker rivals Dortmund.
Further articles
–Borussia Dortmund’s Title Tilt All But Over After Gladbach Beat The Blackyellows For The First Time In 5 Years: Match Report
–Borussia Dortmund Defeated At Leverkusen 2-1 Losing Further Ground On The Bundesliga Lead: Match Report
–Robert Lewandowski Breaks More Records As Bayern Take A 7 Point Lead In Bundesliga After Victory Over Schalke: Match Report
No improvement
There is no question there are problems at the Signal Aduna Park. Dortmund have had a nightmare season to contend with.
In their last seven games Dortmund have taken just eleven points – in comparison Bayern have taken eighteen. Why is seven games special? Because it was seven games ago that Dortmund parted ways with Lucien Favre and replaced him with interim boss Edin Terzic.
After the 5-1 loss to Stuttgart, Favre was sacked and Terzic promoted from assistant to boss.
A young Boruss, Terzic was seen as someone who could relate better with Dortmund’s young attack rather than the elder and more strict Favre, but since taking the reigns Terzic has not improved Dortmund’s fortunes.
In fact they’ve declined with Dortmund taken 52 per cent of points under Terzic in the league compared to 57 per cent under Favre.
Losses against Leverkusen and Gladbach and a draw at home to second bottom Mainz mean Dortmund has realigned their targets from champions to qualifying for the Champions League.
What has gone wrong at Dortmund?
Three issues which stick out for Dortmund are:
1) Unable to produce a ninety minute performance
2) Over-reliance on Haaland
3) Lack of stability in the club
Both Julien Brandt and captain Marco Reus admitted after the defeat to Leverkusen for some reason Dortmund are dropping out of games with Brandt saying: “It’s been a recurring theme throughout the season that we’ve not been able to maintain our level over the full 90 minutes.”
When Dortmund switch off they concede and with most of their attacking weapons off form the BlackYellows don’t seem to be able to rely on outscoring teams anymore.
Of those attacking weapons the jewels in the crown are Haaland and Sancho.
No one can complain about Haaland’s effort, the Norwegian having scored 14 goals in 13 league games, but Sancho, Reyna, Brandt and Reus have not backed up their colleague with eight goals scored between them – average of two each in the season so far.
For such a young side the issue that seems to be ironically biting back at Dortmund is the lack of stability in the club.
Sancho wanted to leave in the summer and didn’t. Haaland has a release clause believed to be between £60m and £80m which will be active in summer 2022 and unless the BlackYellows can renegotiate Haaland’s deal he will definitely leave then, and is most certain to leave in the next three seasons with any of the big clubs wanting to take him.
For a side that is known to attract talent because of the opportunities available in Dortmund to play, how does that leave the dynamic in the team when members know some players are in Dortmund to build up minutes ahead of actually playing for the badge?
Mercenaries is a strong word but right now what we’re seeing is a team that don’t trust each other and because of that a lack of confidence has manifested which has destroyed their season.
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 