Bundesliga return: Reina provides a reminder of his class, Haller’s return and goals galore
And Edin Terzic pledged to make fans feel The full BVB experience In the second half of the season.
Oh boy, were you born on a Sunday. Borussia DortmundHis 4-3 win over FC Augsburg was the typical insane mix of beautiful goals and ugly defense – with no disrespect for our cracked subscribers – we’ve all come to expect from Black & Yellow, only more extreme and nuts than usual.
Terzic may not have reached the limits of his faith nor the hinterland of his devotion when it came to being confident that his team would one day be able to defend efficiently. Until now. But amidst the chaos of Signal Iduna Park, one can easily imagine lines with a softly 40-year-old to Sade’s Soldier of Love, a song about the endless but ultimately futile effort to make the Impossible work work: Wild West, I do my best. …”
“Quality in front, no quality in the back,” like that Nico Schlotterbeck Seven penalties summed up succinctly. The 23-year-old Dortmund centre-back embodied this imbalance: he played some fantastic passes but also twice gave the ball away in the build-up to the visitors’ first and third goals.
In between, midfielder Salih Ozkan, who often played in defense, lost a key duel for the ball after a rare game. Jude Bellingham An error and new signing Julian Ryerson, who otherwise played a good game, played Ermdin Demirović alongside to score in the 45th minute. It was a collection of errors from the home team, bad enough to lose two matches. But the Dortmund strikers managed to save the situation thanks to their great brilliance. Bellingham danced admirably in front of his opponent on the tightest points before hitting a low shot to make it 1-0. Schlotterbeck’s header (2-1) was closer to a regulation finish but came after a nice free kick. English young man Jamie-Bynoe Gittens, returned from an extended break after injuring his shoulderCut the ball inside to the right corner to make it 3-2. But Gio Reina, the other alternate, saved the best for last.
The USMNT player hit a great kick from Bellingham’s slam dunk and made it 4-3. He celebrated by placing one finger to his lips and then two to his ears, no doubt in reference to the criticism he faced during and after world Cup. “Jio smashed in the face, media-wise,” Terzic said of the 20-year-old’s ordeals in Qatar.
It’s fair to say that Reyna would not have ranked so high on the list of potential winners prior to the match. During the club’s training camp in Marbella, He looked somewhat lost in the practice sessions and the two Test matches. An interview with journalists proved similarly unhelpful. Asked about his personal goals for the second half of the season, Rina hesitated. He eventually offered “I don’t know…”, before saying he simply wanted to “help the team”. (At the request of a BVB press officer, World Cup questions were off-limits.)
Reyna would do well to get big game time given the competition; Marco Reus, who missed the Augsburg match (illness), will return soon and Dortmund is looking for another winger as well. But the American strike, apart from securing three valuable points, was a timely reminder of his abilities and should also aid his quest to return to his best in the coming weeks. The way things are at the back, Dortmund will need many wonder goals if they are to succeed in the Premier League Champions League splatter.
Speaking of (little) miracles, it was great to see Sebastien Haller make his competitive debut against the yellow wall to loud cheers and a standing ovation. “It was a goosebumps moment,” said the French-Ivorian striker after entering the 62nd minute with the words “Fuck Cancer” written on his boot.
Before the match, Terzic invited him to address his teammates. “It was more than just football,” he said. “I tried to explain to them how big this deal was and that football was only of secondary importance.”
Haller returned to football on Saturday wearing his “Fuck Cancer” boots (Photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Safe to say, the message is not lost on the 84,000 in the land or those watching on television.
After not playing soccer in forever, he got up Bundesliga Make up for lost time with a torrent of goals this weekend. The ball has hit the net 41 times in seven matches, not more than Cologne who beat Werder Bremen 7-1 after scoring “five goals from their first five attempts on goal”, as noted by their coach Steffen Baumgart. “It was a disaster, we can only apologise,” Werder coach Uli Werner said.
If that’s not your average mid-table encounter, then Freiburg’s 6-0 defeat at the hands of a side Wolfsburg Vfl It was even more extraordinary. Coach Niko Kovac’s side have recorded five straight league wins, but the visitors have conceded only 17 goals up to this point and are sitting in third place thanks to their collective defensive strength. Christian Streich was so stunned by the biggest defeat of his 11 years with the club that he tried to explain it no more than to state the obvious. “We were simply too bad,” the 57-year-old said dejectedly.
In more regular news, Union Berlin confirmed their Champions League aspirations with a late 3-1 win over TSG Hoffenheim, and in Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso continued the rebound with a 3-2 away win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, who had a new goalkeeper. Jonas Omlin in target. LeverkusenAmin Adly (1 goal, 1 assist) was the man of the match, while Florian Wertz fell behind after suffering from illness.
Down below, VfL Bochum (14) posted a hugely encouraging victory over Hertha Berlin in a classic six-pointer. Thomas Leitch’s vastly improved side beat the visitors thanks to a goal from newcomer Kevin Schloterbeek (Nico’s brother, formerly at Freiburg) and a bit of help from the VAR, who disallowed Lukas Tousart’s opening goal for Hertha even though the ball had crossed the touchline. With 20 seconds left and VfL’s Sady Janko touched him in the meantime.
“If this is the same attacking sequence then I’m out, this is not football as I knew it,” said Hertha manager Fredi Bobic. Coach Sandro Schwartz admitted, however, that his men hardly deserved any better after the poor performance. His judgment was considered “Shes been ours today”. Hertha is 17th and is in serious danger now.
At the other end of the table, where the sun is shining, RB Leipzig League leaders Bayern Munich (with Jan Sommer in goal) drew 1-1 and saw two very different halves. The Bavarians dominated before the break and took the lead through Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Serge Gnabry He presented the cross shortly before traveling to visit Paris Fashion Week. said Julian Nagelsmann after taking a closer look at Germany Wing’s social media feed.) Leipzig played better in the second half to force a deserved equalizer through Marcel Halstenberg, and on another day, they might have won.
As is often the case in Munich, Bayern’s exploits on the field have been somewhat overshadowed by politics. Deputy goalkeeper Alexandre Noble, who is on loan at Monaco, revealed live on ZDF’s Sportstudio that Bayern’s goalkeeper coach Toni Tabalovic has not been in contact with him since his move to Ligue 1.
Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, who signed with Noble in 2020 and tried in vain to win him back from Monaco after Manuel NeuerInjury, he said he would have a (presumably intense talk) fight with Tabalović. The goalkeeping coach has since been fired. drama!
Honorary Chairman Uli Hoeneß, meanwhile, has won many hearts and minds by showing the kind of humility for which he and his club have long been known in Germany and abroad. “I’m pretty sure Bayern will win the league and I don’t care what happens behind us,” the 71-year-old told Doppelpass. If this does not foster a new spirit of cooperation between the Bundesliga, the national team and the media that BVB CEO and DFB Vice-President Hans-Joachim Watzke recently called for, then nothing will.
(Top photo: Edith Giubert – GES Sportfoto / Getty Images)