“Quality is making the most of your potential”

Borussia Dortmund’s hopes of getting out of the relegation zone as quickly as possible have taken a further dent as they dropped two points at the newly-promoted side. Their tally of 11 points from 12 games means that only Werder Bremen (10) and VfB Stuttgart (9) have fewer points than BVB. With games against Frankfurt, Hoffenheim, Hertha BSC, Wolfsburg and Bremen to come, the Black and Yellows will probably need a bit longer to claw their way back to success.

In the first half at the sold-out Benteler Arena no-one would have predicted that Paderborn could get a result out of this game. BVB picked right up where they left off in the 1-0 home win against Mönchengladbach, and their display was rewarded by goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (12’) and Marco Reus (45.+1’) . “We were way too passive,” said Paderborn coach André Breitenreiter afterwards, while Jürgen Klopp saw his team “doing a lot of things right.”

In the second half, however, BVB did a lot of things wrong, including taking their foot off the pedal and handing the initiative to the hosts. Even if the Black and Yellows managed to create another two chances through Reus (47’) and Aubameyang (56’), they somehow lost the plot around the 60-minute mark. “In the second half we didn’t work as hard and didn’t press as hard as before. That’s why we saw a different game,” said BVB sporting director Michael Zorc.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang said, “We knew Paderborn wouldn’t give up. But in the second half we weren’t determined enough and failed to control the game.” They were swiftly punished for it as Lukas Rupp finished off a counter attack following a BVB corner to pull one back for the home side in the 60th minute. “That shouldn’t have happened,” said Ilkay Gündogan. Things got from bad to worse for BVB when Mahir Saglik headed home from a corner to make it 2-2 on 81 minutes.

“We kept them alive, something we shouldn’t have done. Now we leave here almost empty-handed,” said Jürgen Klopp, while Michael Zorc added, “The draw feels like a defeat. It’s disappointing when you are 2-0 up and dominate the match as much as we did.” Speaking at the club’s annual general meeting, BVB chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke had some harsh words for the team, saying, “After dominating the first half, it was disappointing to see that you shifted into a game-management mode after the break. That is something we cannot afford right now.” Or, to put it another way, as Jürgen Klopp did, “Quality is making the most of your potential.” In the Bundesliga, BVB are currently not making enough of it.

But their poor second half showing was not the only reason they only got a point from the game, their first away from home since 26 April 2014 (a 2-2 draw in Leverkusen), referee Wolfgang Stark also played a part with two bizarre decisions.

Wolfgang Stark admits error

Marvin Bakalorz’s 64th-minute challenge on Marco Reus, who suffered a torn ankle ligament injury ruling him out for the rest of the year, was only punished with a booking. Given that Bakalorz didn’t hit the ball at all, issuing a red card would have been the correct action. After watching the TV footage, the Paderborn player ruefully admitted, “That was too aggressive. I’m really sorry about it.” Referee Stark told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, “I was shocked when I watched the slow-motion, and I have to say that a red card would have been the correct decision.”

His second error of the game came in the 80th minute, just before Paderborn’s second goal, when he disallowed a Grosskreutz goal for offside, with Jojic being the player in a “passive” position and involved in the goal. Klopp said, “Had the goal counted, this game would have been done and dusted.” Michael Zorc summed up the afternoon as follows: “One of our players got kicked into hospital, and one of our goals was disallowed. Hadn’t that happened, we would have won 3-1. Instead, we conceded a second at the other end. Or to put in a nutshell, it was a rubbish afternoon.”