Borussia Dortmund are looking back on their USA Tour with great satisfaction. "Entirely successful", said coach Lucien Favre, whose sporting expectations were exceeded rather than fulfilled. The coach said the tour was "very, very positive," adding: "It was a great experience."

He was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm that surrounded his new club. "Wherever we went − whether it was Chicago, Charlotte or Pittsburgh − there were so many Borussia Dortmund fans. That was a big surprise for me. An average attendance of 35,000 is phenomenal."

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Two wins (1-0 against Manchester City and 3-1 against Liverpool) were followed by a "draw" – in any case, that's how the organisers of the International Champions Cup categorized the match BVB lost on penalties against Benfica. Reflecting on the tour, Favre said he had seen "many beautiful things". The Swiss singled out the build-up and execution of both the goals against last season's Portuguese runners-up, with Mo Dahoud and Mario Götze making a key contribution in the lead-up to both as Maximilian Philipp slotted home twice. "The two goals we scored were absolutely top!"

He lauded the team while simultaneously showing understanding for the fact they had failed to hold on to a two-goal lead. "In the end, it was a very, very young team with a lot of youth players who were not used to playing together in this formation," he explained. "It's still too early for some of the players to be playing the full 90 minutes. Yet we still could've made it 3-2 at the end." But instead it was decided in a shootout, where the average age of the five takers was just 19.2 years.

The nine days in the USA were an opportunity to get to know each other – off the pitch, but above all on it. For the team it was all about gelling with each other; for the coaching staff it was and still is important "to get to know the players as quickly as possible in order to build a team," said Favre, who continued: "The best way to get to know the players is on the training ground: intelligence, movement, technique during movement, tracking back, counter-pressing – we see it all there."

"We want to continue to improve. So far I've been satisfied"

The only minor difficulty lay in the close scheduling of the matches. "The training sessions weren't long," explained Favre. "Because it was difficult: you play against Man City on Friday, Liverpool on Sunday and Benfica on Wednesday." Nonetheless: "I need to get to know the players gradually. It's starting. I see a lot of good things and a few things that aren't go good. All in all, it's really positive."

Upon their return on Thursday − the team are scheduled to land in Düsseldorf in the early afternoon − the players will be given the day off on Friday. Starting on Saturday, Favre will then have another three weeks to work with the entire squad. "We want to continue to improve. The training sessions are a very important part of this. So far I've been satisfied."

Wednesday marks the start of their eight-day training camp in Switzerland, with Bad Ragaz again the destination. There they will face two friendlies where they will look to put their training ground work into practice under competitive conditions. Rennes and Napoli will be the opponents.
Boris Rupert

Borussia shine in opening half