Beaten Saturday 2-1 in Friborg, Dortmund flows slowly but surely. With this third defeat in four matches, the vice-champion of Germany in the last two seasons is 6th 16 points behind Bayern, despite the undeniable quality of its workforce.
At the top of the table, the positions remained frozen during this 20th day of the Bundesliga. Friday night, Bayern Munich (48 pts) had ensured its rear before leaving for Qatar play the Club World Cup, beating Hertha Berlin 1-0.
On Saturday, Leipzig, 7-point dolphin (41 pts), beat the red lantern Schalke 3-0. The third Wolfsburg (38 pts) won 2-0 in Augsburg, and the fourth Leverkusen (35 pts) swept Stuttgart 5-2, with a gala Moussa Diaby author of three assists.
Only Frankfurt (33 pts), which plays Sunday in Hoffenheim (3:30 p.m.), can still slip into the leading square, qualifying for the Champions League.
But all eyes on Saturday were on Dortmund, where the new coach Edin Terzic, bombarded on the bench after the dismissal of Lucien Favre in mid-December, no longer seems to have a solution.
“We are not only disappointed, we are angry”, he said after the game, his face closed: “I don’t have a button to press to say + hey guys stop losing balloons + […] We have to keep working, correcting what needs to be fixed and looking ahead, there is nothing else to do. ”
Goal of Moukoko, 16 years old
Borussia had entered the match well, but on Freiburg’s first goal, South Korean Wooyeong Jeong was free from any marking 18 meters in front of goal when he inherited the ball. His shot is superb but no one hinders him (1-0, 49th).
The second goal three minutes later is clearly to be attributed to the substitute goalkeeper Marwin Hitz (substitute for Roman Bürki injured in a shoulder), who is completely holed up on a powerful shot from Jonathan Schmid (2-0, 52nd).
Dortmund then closed the gap, again thanks to the talent of his teenagers: Erling Haaland magnificently served 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko, who scored his second goal in the Bundesliga (2-1, 76th). But the score remained there.
For the moment silent, the leaders watch helplessly as the plunge. If Mönchengladbach beats the poorly ranked Cologne on Saturday evening (6.30 p.m.), Dortmund will fall to 7th place, outside of European places, while the income from the Champions League is essential for the club’s financial balance.
“Qualification for the Champions League is in danger”, recognized center-back Mats Hummels, 2014 world champion and one of the team’s executives, “Europe is the minimum that is expected of us, we know that. The atmosphere is going to get hectic around us but that’s okay, it’s our job. Edin (Terzic) does a lot of things for us, but so far we don’t have the results ”.
Not enough to arouse optimism before the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League in Seville on February 17.
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