Two games, no points – never have Borussia Dortmund started a Champions League campaign with worse results. Their chances of progressing from the group stage, however, have not been mortally wounded. 

For the opposing argument that those chances would have been improved with a draw against Real doesn't hold. In either case, the Black and Yellows would have had to win their next three fixtures: firstly, they play their two legs against APOEL Nicosia, the away game on the 17 October, and at home on 1 November. Should they take six points from those two encounters, then they essentially have a play-off against Tottenham Hotspur in their own stadium.

"We need to win both matches against Nicosia and then look to see what Tottenham have managed to get out of their fixtures against Madrid at the same time. We can start calculating after matchday four", attested Nuri Sahin. If results go their way, the two opponents will both have six points on the board, and BVB will be able to determine themselves if they progress to the next round for the ninth time in their twelfth UEFA Champions League campaign.

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It is a fact that the referees have made a not insignificant contribution to BVB's historically weak start: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's legitimate goal to equalise 2-2 away at Tottenham Hotspur was incorrectly chalked off (shortly thereafter, the opposition scored to bring about the match's final result, 3-1), and as the score still stood 0-0 between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, the Black And Yellows should have been awarded a penalty kick for a handball, and so would have played against ten men for 75 minutes. This should not distract from the team's own failings in both encounters, though. "A penalty could have been given there, but we have to take a look at ourselves and what we needed to do better", suggested Mario Götze.

"It is true: things stood at 0-0 and it was clearly a handball", said Peter Bosz. "But Madrid were better than us and deserved to win." The real source of the manager's anger lay elsewhere: "If you want to play like we want to play, then you have  got to put real pressure on your opponent. It was not a problem with the defence as such, rather with the whole team. If the attacking players and midfielders don't press as hard as they should, then things get difficult for the defence."

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The man who prevented a greater defeat with his saves, especially towards the end of the encounter as Borussia threw everyone forward in search of an equaliser for 2-2 and, logically, left space open at the back, was in agreement. Roman Bürki stressed: "We didn't manage to implement our style of play as we have done so far in the Bundesliga. We attempted to play our pressing game, but it didn't work, so Real had lots of room in midfield and were able to create many chances for themselves."

Two games and two defeats do not necessarily mean Dortmund will exit the tournament. Ten teams have managed to get through to the next round despite such a start in the history of the Champions League, the last team to have done so being Arsenal FC in the 2015/16 season.
Boris Rupert