Once the 2018/19 season was over, the around 8,000 BVB fans who had made the journey to Gladbach rose to their feet and applauded the team for several minutes. It was a deserved reward for the players, who had helped Borussia Dortmund to their third-highest points tally in the German top flight. Unfortunately, they did not manage to become German champions on the final day of the season but the men in Black & Yellow had done everything they could; unfortunately, the fate of the title was not in their hands.

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"FC Bayern are champions. But BVB have won back the hearts of their fans. At the end of this enthralling season, the supporters have demonstrated a keen feel for the players' performances," said Ruhr Nachrichten of the scenes at the final whistle. Around two hundred applauding fans were waiting at the training ground on Saturday night to welcome the team back. Hans-Joachim Watzke thanked almost every single one of them personally.

"We wanted to show a different performance, a different side to the team compared to last season. Not the kind of nail-biter we had in Hoffenheim at the end of that campaign. It's gone the way we hoped it would under Lucien Favre. We've comfortably qualified for the Champions League. We kept the title race going until the end. When was the last time that happened? 10 years ago! In that respect, we've accomplished the sporting objectives we set ourselves for the Bundesliga and the Champions League," explained the chief executive officer.

A remarkable season in remarkable figures

To be precise, Borussia Dortmund have picked up 21 points more than last season. In total, their 76 points was the third-highest haul in the club's Bundesliga history. The Black & Yellows finished as runners-up for the sixth time – with a 10-point lead over third-placed Leipzig. In the 24 years since a win became worth three points, 76 points would have been enough to win the title on 13 occasions. The points tally from the second half of the season, 34, works out at an average of 2.0 per game – better than the 2010/11 title-winning season, when they picked up 32 points after Christmas.

"We were close," declared Roman Bürki, before adding: "We don't yet have the experience when it comes to dealing with the pressure of a title race. That could've been the decisive factor. Nonetheless, we can be incredibly proud of what we've accomplished as a team." His team-mate Axel Witsel bemoaned the points dropped against smaller teams, but was quick to add: "It was an amazing season with lots of emotions, both positive and negative."

Reus: "We need to be more consistent"

"The development is good. But we know that we still need to make adjustments in certain areas to be more consistent," concluded captain Marco Reus, who had a hand in both goals in the final-day away victory in Gladbach. He set up the first goal; then scored the second following a fast, sweeping move that involved Sancho, Götze and Pulisic.

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Source: bild.de / DAZN / Sky

There were lengthy discussions about whether the ball had gone out of play before the opener. DAZN used the "Piero Analysis Tool", which enables 3D imaging, to look at that passage of play. And it was clear that while the ball was no longer touching the line, it wasn't over it either. The question is whether the ball was entirely out of play – and that wasn't the case. So the goal deserved to stand.

Watzke: "...now we want to take this step"

"We can be proud of the performance of the team and the coaching staff," declared Watzke. "And one cannot forget that Bayern Munich have put together a superb run since their clash with Düsseldorf in the first half of the season. They've hardly dropped any points." The BVB boss continued: "In the beginning, we gave ourselves two summer transfer windows to reshape the team and make ourselves competitive at national and international level. And we need this second summer transfer window to optimise the squad, to make further adjustments. You need to consistently play to your limit if you want to be really successful. To do so, we need even more experience, stability and consistency, fewer individual errors and even more quality in the moments that count. We want to take this next step now."
Boris Rupert

Match report: Sancho & Reus score
Reactions: Proud of the team
Favre: We can be satisfied