How quickly things can change in football. Criticism flowed after the poor performance delivered during the 1-1 draw against Augsburg on Monday. On Saturday, there was praise and appreciation after drawing 1-1 in Leipzig. Borussia Dortmund finally gave the impression of being a top side once again.

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"We travel home fairly pleased", suggested Peter Stöger after a valuable evening of football in Saxony. He "saw an unbelievably good game of football in the first half, and a good game of football in the second", which, as Julian Weigl put it, was "a very good answer" to the criticism levelled at the way they had played, especially against Augsburg. Stöger added: "We saw many of the things we wanted to see today: the right body language, passing, challenging for the ball, runs deep in behind. Much was good against good opposition. Both teams were determined to win the game."  

In contrast to the 1-0 away win in Gladbach and the 1-1 draw in Bergamo, the team wasn't in need of lots of luck. On the contrary, taking into account the goal each that Batshuayi and Reus had disallowed (correctly), both chalked off because of offside in the build-up play, and also Batshuayi's big chance at the beginning of the second passage of the match, BVB were closer to winning than Leipzig. After a fairly open exchange of blows in the first 45 minutes, the hosts spent most of the second half camped in their own half up until the 75' minute or so. Only then did Leipzig come to the realisation that "a point was of greater value to Dortmund than it was for us" (Manager Hasenhüttl) in the battle for a UEFA Champions League qualification spot.

"The result is OK. We have maintained our lead over them."

"The result is OK. We have maintained our lead over them", said Stöger. It's true that BVB have fallen from second to third in the table, but they have held onto their three point lead over Leipzig. And if BVB are once again able to capitalise on their traditional strength at home against Frankfurt (this coming Saturday 11 March), and also take advantage of the fact that the fixture immediately following that is at home to Hanover (18 March), then BVB could go into the final stage of the season slightly up.

Before the two home games in the league against Frankfurt and Hanover, there is the first leg of the UEFA Europa League tie against FC Salzburg to be played on Thursday (19:00 CET, tickets available here). Peter Stöger does not see their European obligation as a disadvantage. On the contrary: "We are happy to be participating." The large number of games to be played in the coming weeks is an opportunity to quickly reintegrate "the two lads that are returning from injury" and get them up to speed for the run-in in the league and further European fixtures. "The squad is getting larger again. In this way, you get plenty of game time, which is an important factor for some of our boys."
Boris Rupert