Jubilation in May – melancholy in November. In a year of extremes, Borussia Dortmund experienced a footballing trough that stood in stark contrast to the cup victory in May six months earlier and the subsequent celebration parade around Borgisplatz, winning none of their five fixtures in November at either domestic or international level.

The mood was dampened, yet businesslike as the shareholders met the day after one of the most memorable of derbies for the annual general meeting. President Reinhard Rauball later extended his "great thanks to all those who have contributed to a harmonious BVB annual general meeting in the Westfalenhalle, and who have comported themselves with dignity and class. Our members have served as a convincing advertisement for Borussia Dortmund." They also returned Vice-President Gerd Pieper and Treasurer Dr. Reinhard Lunow to their offices unopposed, meaning continuity for the "e.V." ("registered association"). With much praise and acclaim, the shareholders also expressed great approval for the course steered by the executive board comprised of Hans-Joachim Watzke at its head and Thomas Treß.

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Great acclaim of an intensity verging on hurricane-like had been heard from the stands just days too before when Borussia Dortmund led FC Schalke 04 4-0 at halftime in the 151st Rhine Derby. This scoreline was being shown on the display board as early as the 25' minute after a goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (12'), an own goal from Schalker's Stambouli after a free-kick delivered by Sahin (18'), a flying header from Mario Götze (20') and a shot on the volley from Raphael Guerreiro (25'). Burgstaller (61') and Harit (65') reduced their deficit by half within four minutes to 4-2. Aubameyang then saw a second yellow, and so red, in the 72' minute, meaning Borussia were down to ten men. Caligiuri took the score to 4-3 in the 86' minute, before Naldo slammed a corner ball home into the back of the net in the fourth minute of injury time to equalise at 4-4. "We have reenacted the first 12 matchdays of the season in a single game", observed Watzke: a great start followed by a weak finish.

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Previously there had been losses against Bayern (1-3) and Stuttgart (1-2). Despite good attempts by and excellent chances for Andrey Yarmolenko and Shinji Kagawa, at halftime the score stood at 0-2 in the Bavarians' favour in this top of the table clash thanks to goals from Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski. Marc Bartra only managed to get a consolation goal for the Black & Yellows in the 87' minute, after David Alaba had already scored Munich's third of the encounter (67'). Their job away at VfB Stuttgart, a team that typically perform strongly at home, was made much more difficult by conceding a goal early on at the beginning of each half. Akolo scored in the 5' minute to take the game to 1-0, after which Maximilian Philipp equalised from the spot immediately before the whistle was blown for halftime, something well-deserved given the attractive combinations Borussia had been playing going forward towards the end of the first passage of play. Five minutes after the restart, however, Brekalo found the back of the net to conclude a counterattacking move and once again put VfB on the front foot. Yarmolenko did seem to have equalised for 2-2, but the goal was disallowed owing to a light touch with the hand.

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Their Champions League home games against Apoel Nicosia (1-1) and Tottenham Hotspur (1-2) also both ended in bitter disappointment. In the match against Nicosia, a total of 30 shots returned only one goal: Raphael Guerreiro was the goalscorer. As in the first leg, the opposition crossbar prevented BVB from claiming a possible victory once again, though this did not factor into the assessments of those responsible. Peter Bosz: "We had to win against Nicosia at home. We did not do that: that is bad. There can be no excuses for that." Against Tottenham, the Black and Yellows were 1-0 up at the break and deservedly so thanks to a goal scored by Aubameyang in the 31' minute after impressive build up play from Yarmolenko. Two brilliant saves from Roman Bürki stopped Tottenham from getting an equaliser, but he subsequently had no chance against Tottenham's star striker Kane (49'). The goal put wind in Spurs' sails, and they subsequently went on to celebrate a 2-1 lead in the 76' minute courtesy of Heung-Min Son.

Mario Götze picked up an injury that has ruled him out until the beginning of next year. An extensive examination revealed tears to his ligaments in both the upper and lower part of his ankle. A foul committed on him by Schalke in the derby had resulted in the injury. The midfielder was obliged to sit the following six weeks out. Sven Mislintat, Head of Professional Football at the club, took his leave for London. "Sven has done great work for us. We bore that in mind when he came to me a few weeks ago to ask if he could accept an exceptional offer that Arsenal FC had made him. We did not want to deny him this opportunity", said Sporting Director Michael Zorc.
Boris Rupert