Borussia Dortmund

“Getting four points in the away games in Schalke and Leverkusen is not to be taken for granted. We can be really proud of the lads. It feels like a victory here,” beamed a happy Marco Lehmann following the final whistle at the Bayer-Leistungszentrum Kurtekotten. The team earned themselves the point with their courageous performance.

Boris Rupert reporting from Stuttgart

Sebastian Kehl (in the mixed zone): “It was an inexplicably weak performance from us and a deserved win for VfB Stuttgart. Although we went in at half-time on level terms, we only did a little better in spells of the second half, but not in a stable enough way to deserve anything today. It’s brutally disappointing. We cannot perform the way we did in many areas today, especially in the first half! If that happens more often, we won’t need to talk about targets. A lot of players played below their level today. You can’t win a Bundesliga match like that, especially not against a brave, courageous, self-confident Stuttgart team, who played a good game of football. The way we were today, both as a group and individually, is not how you should perform as Borussia Dortmund.” (br)

Gregor Kobel (in the mixed zone): “It’s difficult to have an explanation when you come straight off the pitch. There were a few things that didn’t go well. We were always too late in the challenges. It turned into a maelstrom: the opposition got braver and braver, they realised something was possible, and we got worse and worse. Stuttgart were the better team from start to finish. There was contact for the second penalty, yes, but he looked for it and tried to engineer it. He completely sprinted into me. It’s madness (editor’s note: in reference to the table); the others are picking up points like crazy.”

Benefit from exclusive offers and secure your favorite black and yellow products at unbeatable prices. 

At the beginning of the evening, club president Dr Reinhold Lunow took the floor and reminded everyone to look not only to the past, but also to the present. Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel has made the issue of anti-Semitism more relevant than ever. “On behalf of BVB, I would like to express our deepest sympathy and solidarity with our friends and civilians in Israel. We must take a firm stand against anti-Semitism and hatred,” said Lunow. The life and story of Pavel Taussig is “a cautionary reminder that peace and freedom must never be taken for granted.”

Borussia Dortmund are away to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday. Kick-off is at 15:30 CET. We have...

In their home game against the team from the far north, who sit third-bottom in the table, BVB want to sign off for the international break with a successful result. The promoted side currently have 12 points on the board and have the division’s third-worst defence, with 24 goals conceded.

As was the case in February when 11,112 fans made their way to the Westfalenhalle for the group game against Siofok, the motto for the game against Dunarea Braila on Sunday will be “All in the hall”. The visitors from Romania are one of the top teams in their domestic league and sit fifth in the 14-team division after 10 games, despite suffering a 27-26 home defeat in the top match against Gloria Bistrita on Wednesday.

Travel