Post-Match Report
What the BVB first team thinks about the record-breaking travel week
“It’s very exhausting, but it’s part of the job. In the end, it’s all about making the best of it, recovering quickly, and performing well,” said Gregor Kobel after the 2-1 win at Sabah FC. The rigors of travel “should never be used as an excuse,” the goalkeeper added, “but it would also be a lie to say, ‘It’s all easy.’ You spend a lot of time on planes, in different time zones...”
Joey Veerman, whose family lives in the Netherlands, described the tour from Dortmund to Bodø, back to Dortmund, then to Berlin, back to Dortmund, and finally to Baku: “I have a family with two children at home. So I went home for twelve hours, then we flew to Berlin. I came back, and after twelve hours we flew back to Baku again. So it wasn’t exactly the best week, but wrapping it up with a win is really nice.”
Head coach Niko Kovac’s assessment of the match following the important away win in Baku was also decidedly positive: “We played really good soccer. We created a lot of chances. We should have scored even more goals. That’s the only minor drawback,” said Kovac about the successful third match in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. He added: “I’m very satisfied with the way we played in our third away game in a week.”
His goalkeeper, too, was only frustrated by the team’s failure to capitalize on chances. “In the end, it was perhaps a bit harder than it needed to be,” Kobel said: “We had the chances to score a goal or two earlier on and then have a more relaxed game.”
After one final training session on site, the team heads back to Dortmund with a “clear directive” from BVB sporting director Ole Book: “Recover as best as possible, eat well, drink plenty of fluids, and sleep well.”
Boris Rupert
