Zero goals would not suffice

Looking back a couple of weeks ago, we probably all remember singing, laughing and surely also dancing Borussen who did not get tired of talking about the wonderful moments football offers you. We had just won the most important game of the year - the Derby against our ugly neighbours- and felt as if everything that had gone wrong during the first half of the season, suddenly was not that bad, not that inexplicable anymore. Life as a Dortmund fan felt good. Three days later we were back to frustration, having lost the away match against Juventus.

And since then? Stagnation. Zero goals, little fun but many questionmarks. Where had all that Derby spirit gone? Our Batman and Robin aura? The easiness of the game. It is a lot to ask for the ease in the game after a nerve wrecking first half of the season as we have encountered it. But for a while, during the past weeks, life as a Dortmund fan seemed okay again. So what has gone wrong?

On a more positive note: we did not get any goals conceded and especially in the last match against Cologne, Weidenfeller was right on spot again, preventing us from early on from falling behind again. And even in Hamburg, a place we would all like to avoid (when do they finally go down?) since going there never resulted in leaving with happy faces, we managed to keep a clean sheet with Hamburg failing to score. And even though it does sound really silly, we should definitely be happy about having kept at least one (away) point for us in the match against Hamburg. Something that has last happened on the 18^th matchday of the Bundesliga-season 2011/12.

On the downside: two points gained from the matches against Hamburg and Cologne is simply not enough. And as great as no goals scored by the opponent sounds, as alarming should no goals scored ring in our ears as well. Furthermore it was also striking that Dortmund have again found by no means a recipe to burst through a thick wall of tight defense as Cologne has presented it. We need some urgent tutoring for that.

Which brings us to our Championsleague return game against Juventus. Our away match may not have gone well, but it went well enough in order to still have some hopes for the game in Dortmund. We did score the much needed and very important away goal and still have every chance to move on to the next round, if…..yes, if we do score. For whatever it takes, we do need to score- a clean sheet on goals against us, will not suffice this time. There are a lot of realistic possibilities that would have us qualifying for the next round: a tight 1:0 or any victory with a two goal difference. After our last home match against Madrid, we know that everything is possible. However, we need to put all our heart and passion and strengths into this game in order to succeed.

So, here we go Ballspielverein, let us again celebrate together as we did celebrate after the Derby. This season has been difficult for all of us, but we still have the chance to make it a very good one. The Derby was a great start, let’s continue against Juventus!

Ida, 17.03.2015