Joy and sadness are so close together when when it comes to the final stage of the season. BVB have confirmed their place as the best second placed team of all time in the league and they reached the DFB Cup final for  the third time in a row! However in the UEFA Europa League the dream ends in Liverpool.

After a lucky 1-1 draw in the 1st leg (goal by Hummels), that was much thanks to the superb reflexes of the fantastic Roman Weidenfeller, Borussia Dortmund takes the lead by 2-0 at Anfield Road in Liverpool, where no German team has ever scored two goals before or even won before, through goals by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the fifth and ninth minute! When Marco Reus makes it 3-1 in the 57.minute, it all looks like the semi-final qualification for the UEFA Europa League is right at their fingertips. 

About one hour later Thomas Tuchel said at the press conference: "everything felt perfect for a long time. This is what can happen in football, this is what can happen at the highest level in sport. The game was great - with a really bitter end for us. This was one milestone we did not achieve."

As it happened, it was the 66.minute. Liverpool only had 25 minutes to score 3 goals. Couthinho made the start, Sakho scored to make it 3-3 (78.) after a corner and in time added on Lovren headed the ball hoome to make it 4-3. Gündogan had a chance in the 95.minute to make it 4-4, however his free kick just misses the goal. This is the first defeat for BVB so far in all of 2016, the first defeat after going 18 games unbeaten.

One week later most of the tears have dried. After a convincing 3-0 away win at Hertha BSC, Borussia Dortmund reaches the DFB Cup final for the eighth time - and for the third time in a row. Gonzalo Castro gives the Black Yellows the lead in the 21.minute with a lovely shot into  the right corner of the goal. In the second half Marco Reus scores to make it 2-0 (75.) after a counter attack to more or less guarantee the BVB victory. Henrikh Mkhitaryan then adds the final icing to the cake (83.). Sporting Director  Michael Zorc praised the team: "this was a nigh on perfect game by our team. Putting in such a strong perfomance after all the pressure in the last few weeks is really good."

BVB wins 13 out of a possible 15 points in the league. They are careless against Werder Bremen and are behind after Aubameyang put them ahead, however they get back into the game after being behind 1-2 (69./75.), which really excites the fans. Substitutes Shinji Kagawa (77.) and Adrian Ramos (82.) turn the game around and turn the Signal Iduna Park into a frenzy. After 28 match days and the 3-2 win against Werder Bremen it is confirmed on the 2.April: BVB have guaranteed at least second place in the league!

The 148. local derby ends with a  2-2 draw. The match in front of 61670 spectators in a sold out Veltins Arena only really gets going as a spectacular and highly interesting derby after the break, where Kagawa (49.) and  Matthias Ginter (56.) give Borussia the lead on two ocassions, however Leroy Sané (51.) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar with a penalty (66.) both get the equaliser. On a very positive note: everything is calm in and around the stadium. This is followed by a 3-0 home win over Hamburger SV. Chrsitian Pulic is the twelth 17 year old to make history by scoring a goal in the Bundesliga. Only Nuri Sahin, Julian Draxler and Timo Werner were younger than Pulisic, aged 17 years, six months and 30 days, when they got their first Bundesliga goal. Ramos scored the other two goals.

In their seventh game within 21 days Borussia beats VfB Stuttgart away by 3-0 with an impressive performance (goals: Kagawa, Pulisic, Mkhitaryan). A goal feast follows against Wolfsburg - 5-1 (goals: Kagawa, Ramos, Reus and two times Aubameyang)

Marcel Schmelzer signs a contract until the 30.June 2021. "Borussia is and will remain my sporting home and the area has been the place where my family and I have felt at home for a long time anyway." Boris Rupert