Borussia Dortmund Haberleri

The scenario: The U23 team coached by Jan Zimmermann defeated TSV 1860 Munich 3-0 last Sunday, thanks in no small part to a very strong second half performance. The Black & Yellows had not managed to win two games in a row since September. With just five defeats from 17 games, the young BVB side had one fewer defeat than SSV going into the game. Ulm had to move to their alternative venue in Aalen, around an hour away, because there is no under-pitch heating at their home ground, the Donaustadion.

The three BVB youth players won the title with the Germany U17 national team in Indonesia last Saturday. They defeated France 4-3 on penalties in the final. Now they were honoured by BVB managing director Carsten Cramer, sporting director Sebastian Kehl and youth director Lars Ricken on the sidelines of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK before the Bundesliga match. Attacking player Brunner was also voted Player of the Tournament by FIFA. He was included in the first-team squad for the first time for the match against Leipzig.

Boris Rupert reporting

Julian Brandt: “We gave it everything we had until the end. Losing an important player so early was an extremely bitter pill to swallow. I know the confidence that Mats has. That’s totally fine. Mats has saved us in so many games recently. It’s open to discussion: do you let the Leipzig player go one-on-one against Greg, who’s a fantastic goalkeeper? We had found the spaces well up until then, but then we fell completely out of step. But we proved to the fans that we were willing to give it our all until the very last second against a good footballing side. When we play at home, we want to go for it up front. We have to win games, we don’t want to play like we did in Stuttgart or Leverkusen. That’s not the kind of team we want to be.”

Graft: Borussia Dortmund won 51% of their tackles, fought hard to avoid defeat and, despite playing with a man down, even had slightly more possession than their opponents (53%).

Edin Terzic (to Sky): “We were the better team up until the red card. We were also the better team in the second period, even though we played for a long time during the week and despite the red card and the many absences that we have. It is a really tough test right now. But you could see that the team was very energetic, believed until the end and tried to fight against all the odds. We did a lot of good things. If that is the benchmark, I’m sure we’ll pick up successful results again soon. We not only showed today how good and clear we can be in possession, but also how much we can invest to fight against all the odds. That will be required of us again.”

Early on Saturday evening, Lisa Antl (one goal) and Sarah Wachter (four saves) helped the Germany team prematurely wrap up their place in the quarter-finals of the Handball World Cup in Scandinavia. The 31-21 triumph over Serbia was their fifth victory in five matches. The match against Denmark on Monday will determine whether national team coach Markus Gaugisch’s side qualify as group winners. The clash with the co-hosts will get under way at 20:30 CET.

Therefore, at the Bundesliga home match against Leipzig, to mark International Volunteer Day, which has been held on 5 December every year since 1986, BVB honoured numerous volunteers from partner organisations of the club’s own foundation “leuchte auf” and from around the club for their tireless and important commitment.

The Marietta and Friedrich Torberg Medal is the highest award given by the Jewish Community and it honours work in the fight against anti-Semitism and remembering the Holocaust. Daniel Lörcher and Dr. Andreas Kahrs were honoured for their commitment to tackling anti-Semitism in sport, including their work at Borussia Dortmund, and their contribution to the culture of remembrance in Europe. Currently, through their NGO what matters, they support companies and associations in developing an attitude on social issues such as anti-Semitism, racism or discrimination, and implementing this in their organisations. 

Outlook: Fifth against fourth. A win would see BVB (sitting on 25 points) leapfrog Leipzig in the standings (26 points). The away team are vulnerable on the break (four goals conceded on the counter), which is a promising sign for BVB, who have scored five goals from counter-attacks this season.