The fans didn’t really have any reason to celebrate in the month of October, but they showed solidarity with their team on a scale never seen before, and probably nowhere to be seen again anywhere in the world – goose bump moments in turbulent times.

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It was 5.30 pm on a dreary afternoon of football on October 4th, the game had finished five minutes earlier and the Hamburg players were dancing in front of their travelling fans. But more remarkable was what was happening at the other end, at the South Stand where the fans sang songs for minutes to lift the team’s spirit following the 1-0 defeat to HSV.

At first a little taken aback, maybe disbelieving what they saw, the BVB players went up to the edge of the box and applauded their fans. Sebastian Kehl and others broke away from the main group and threw their sweat-soaked shirts into the crowd. Jürgen Klopp thanked the fans, “It was a remarkable reaction from the fans that will surely help us.” The players echoed this sentiment.

It is all the more noteworthy that the fans showed the same reaction in the next home, after another defeat at home, a 1-0 loss to Hannover 96. “I had goose bumps,” admitted BVB chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke afterwards. After winning two league titles and reaching three big finals, “we are going through a difficult time,” said Sven Bender, adding: “We had many reason to celebrate in the last couple of years, now things are not going according to plan and that’s why we are even more grateful the fans are still backing us.”

In the Bundesliga, BVB failed to pick up a single point in the month of October, and following a 2-1 defeat to Cologne (despite dominating possession only Immobile found the net) and the already mentioned 1-0 defeat to Hannnover BVB slipped to 15th in the table, condemning BVB to their worst start to a season in 26 years. The comeback of the year got lost in all of this: 434 days after his last competitive game in a BVB shirt, Ilkay Gündogan made his return to action against Cologne on 18 October.

But BVB were still doing well in the cup competitions. In the Champions League, they picked up a 4-0 victory at Anderlecht, with goals from Immobile and Ramos (2), as well as a 4-0 win at Galatasaray through goals from Aubameyang (2), Reus and Ramos. And in the DFB Cup, they strolled to an easy 3-0 win at FC St. Pauli (Immobile, Reus, Kagawa) to reach the last 16 of the German Cup competition.