Post-Match Report
Sahin: "I judge the boys on their work off the ball"
There are two sides to Friday matches after an international break. The international players, the pillars of the team, are not in Dortmund for almost two weeks. As a result, the preparations for the home game against 1. FC Heidenheim were anything other than optimal. Many coaches would want one or two additional days together to prepare following the return of their most important players and would therefore prefer a Saturday or Sunday game in the Bundesliga.
But as the Friday fixture against Heidenheim ended in victory – and a convincing one at that – this coin has two sides like any other. Now the gaps between the matches during the first English week of the season are optimal. BVB will only be in Champions League action in Bruges five days after their match against Heidenheim and will then have a further four days until they visit VfB Stuttgart for a Sunday fixture. After that, there will then be five days until the home game against VfL Bochum and four until the Celtic fixture.
Sahin has turned the tightly packed fixture schedule to his advantage. He fielded the four players who had stayed in Dortmund (Felix Nmecha, Serhou Guirassy, Julian Brandt and Niklas Süle) in the starting line-up – and they all fulfilled the expectations that had been placed on their shoulders. In addition, he spread out the workload by making five changes to the starting XI compared to the final match before the international break in Bremen. "It was not a decision against Emre (editor's note: Can) or Sabi (Marcel Sabitzer)," declared the coach, who went on to explain: "We will have an extremely long season, hopefully, and we have an extremely small squad. It is therefore my obligation and my responsibility to ensure this mixture between mental and physical freshness."
The move completely paid off. Left-back Ramy Bensebaini had many good moments. Among other things, he initiated the goal for 1-0. Felix Nmecha stood out as a versatile player who was always available as a passing option in midfield. Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi beat the usually so solid 1. FC Heidenheim defence on several occasions and scored the first, second and third goals for a BVB team that performed strongly for long spells and above all in the first half. And then there was also the debut of Serhou Guirassy, who might have come away from his first game after a long injury lay-off "empty-handed" but still played a decisive role in the goal for 3-1. "A fantastic footballer," said Sahin, adding: "He gives our game a different dimension. He is not only a classic centre-forward, he is also a player who drops back and creates space for his team-mates. You don't see it all that often that a No. 9 allows the ball to run through for his team-mates on two occasions. I'm happy that he's here."
Overall, Sahin appeared satisfied with his team's performance. "We briefly held the door open and then closed it," he said in succinct fashion. He frequently greeted the attacking actions with applause from his coaching zone. But what is even more important to him: "What I judge the boys on is their work off the ball. We can only defend well if the lads press at the right moment." Even though goals were conceded for the first time in the early stages of this Bundesliga season, the team impressed with their tactical defending.
That will be put to the test once again in Bruges on Wednesday and in Stuttgart on Sunday. Until then, they still have a few days of training to continue working on the details.
Boris Rupert
Match report: BVB surge into pole position thanks to Adeyemi brace
Reactions: "Happy with the two goals and the three points"
Facts: Friday evening, floodlights and BVB!
