Berlin, Berlin, we are going to Berlin! For Borussia Dortmund, the journey to Berlin is always a bit special. Yet the last three trips to the capital have been so-so.

In December 2014 BVB suffered a 1-0 defeat at Hertha BSC. Vfl Wolfsburg proved too much for BVB in the DFB Cup final in the summer, winning 3-1. This time around BVB could only manage a 0-0 against the third-placed outfit from Berlin.

In the fight for second place, the Black and Yellows are streaks ahead of their nearest competitor. The lead over Hertha BSC is still ten points. Borussia Dortmund are substantiating their claim to run out in the UEFA Champions League next season. The distance between second and fifth place is 13 points, which would no longer be enough to qualify for the Champions League.

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Matthias Ginter kann mit dem 0:0 leben...

"We can live with the 0-0 draw, even though I'm not especially pleased with the result“, explained Julian Weigl. “It wasn’t our best match. But when you can’t win, a draw is the minimum you need to get out of it,” said Matthias Ginter. Captain of BVB Mats Hummels was not entirely dissatisfied with the draw: “In light of how the match went, the result is reasonable, because we didn’t produce a top performance. We cannot demand top performances over 17 matches though”.

It wasn’t a top performance. BVB never really got into their rhythm on the tricky playing surface. Their passing game was OK but not especially fast or purposeful, which we have come to expect. Goal scoring opportunities were in short supply. The best chance to make it 1-0 went to Hertha, when John Anthony Brooks’ header sailed over the crossbar in the 21st minute.

Thomas Tuchel said: “It shouldn’t be an excuse but the pitch was in a pretty poor state, which does not make football matches easy nor fun and makes everything that bit harder.”

If Aubameyang scores in the Cup...

It wasn’t all about the grass, though. After a difficult first half, in which BVB struggled to overcome the spirited Hertha defence, the Black and Yellows improved and started to dictate the play. “We had quite a few good chances. Ultimately it was a mixture of a lack of confidence and form on the day,” analysed Tuchel, whose team were unable to score for the first time in a match this season.

But by Tuesday, in the DFB Cup quarter-finals, the BVB goal machine should be up and running against VfB Stuttgart. Hopes will once more be pinned on the shoulders of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabonese has scored twenty times in the league, and has scored two goals in two matches in the cup – each time, to make it 1-0. Aubameyang gave BVB the lead in Chemnitz and Augsburg, the 2-0 end result coming from Henrikh Mkhitaryan. We’ll be hoping for more of the same on Tuesday, which will be a renewed step on the road to Berlin… (fu)

“We can live with the 0-0 draw even though I’m not especially pleased with the result,” explained Julian Weigl. “It wasn’t our best match. But when you can’t win, a draw is the minimum you need to get out of it,” said Matthias Ginter. Captain of BVB Mats Hummels was not entirely dissatisfied with the draw: “In light of how the match went, the result is reasonable, because we didn’t produce a top performance. We cannot demand top performances over 17 matches though”.