The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dortmund

  • Dortmund back on track – Klopp

    Dortmund back on track – Klopp

    Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp insists his side took a huge step in the right direction with Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Freiburg .

    BVB were expected to challenge Bayern for the Bundesliga title this season, but a 1-0 home defeat to Augsburg on Wednesday left them rooted to the bottom of the table and prompted a furious response from the fans.

    But Klopp believes the club are ready to turn the corner after an impressive showing led them to their first league victory in six outings.

    “We have to keep believing we can move forward after three of four months in which we didn’t. Today was a step in the right direction,” he said after the match.

    “We are physically much better now [after the winter break], and we were better tactically. It is necessary to be brave in the decisive moments, and believe that we can keep going.”

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang laid on the opener for Marco Reus before scoring twice in the second half, meaning he has now been directly involved in 11 of Dortmund’s last 16 league goals, with seven strikes and four assists.

    “It was a mental problem,” said Aubameyang on Dortmund’s rocky campaign to date. “The coach found the right words and he made the right decision. That’s how we got the result today.”

    Dortmund’s 10th-straight Bundesliga victory over Freiburg sees them leapfrog the latter to lift them two places off the bottom.

  • ‘Trophies,cash can keep Reus at Dortmund’

    Jurgen Kohler believes that Borussia Dortmund will have to spend big if they are to persuade Marco Reus that they can challenge Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title on a regular basis.

    The Germany international still has three years to run on his current contract with BVB but speculation is rife that their Bavarian rivals will make a move for the attacker next summer, with FCB president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge having gone public with his belief that the player’s release clause will drop to €25 million at the end of the 2014-15 season.

    Dortmund have repeatedly reaffirmed their desire to hold onto Reus but Kohler believes that Bayern’s bigger budget could ultimately prove decisive.

    “For Dortmund it is getting harder and harder to keep Marco,” the former BVB centre-half told Bild. “The club can only keep hold of Reus if they invest properly for the next four or five years.

     

     

  • Dortmund hang on to reach Champions League final

    Dortmund hang on to reach Champions League final

    Borussia Dortmund have booked their place in next month’s Champions League final, despite going down 2-0 at Read Madrid this evening.

    The game was goalless for a long period before Madrid scored twice in the final 10 minutes to set up a frantic finish in the Spanish capital, but the hosts were unable to find a third that would have sent them through on away goals.

    Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho prior to kick-off against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on April 30, 2013

    Early on it was Madrid, trailing 4-1 from the opening leg, who flew out of the traps. They had three clear openings inside the first quarter of an hour, with Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil all misfiring.

    First Higuain fired straight at Roman Weidenfeller after being slipped in by Ozil before Ronaldo volleyed into the veteran goalkeeper’s chest from just a few yards.

    Ozil then wasted the best chance of the first half. He was sent clear through on goal, with no-one close to him, and tried to shape for the far corner and deceive Weidenfeller, but dragged his effort wide of the near post.

    Down the other end Dortmund were looking dangerous on the counter and their clearest opportunity came when Sergio Ramos misjudged the flight of a free kick, allowing Robert Lewandowski, who scored four in the first leg, a chance but he volleyed straight at Diego Lopez.

    The visitors lead playmaker Mario Gotze was forced off because of injury in the first half as Dortmund began to weather the Madrid storm and see more of the ball after half an hour.

    Seven minutes after the break Lewandowski squandered a pair of clear-cut chances to put the tie out of Madrid’s reach. First he blazed high over the crossbar from Kevin Grosskreutz pullback before then smashing the underside of the bar from a one-on-one opening.

    The hosts continued to plug away but it was Dortmund who looked more dangerous as again they contrived to miss a clear opening. Marco Reus got into the area and squared for Ilkay Gundogan but his shot from close in was kept out by a sprawling Lopez.

    Jose Mourinho’s men were struggling to create chances while Dortmund were swift on the counter. Again the German side were denied a fifth goal of the tie when Lewandowski’s shot couldn’t find a way through a host of Dortmund players.

    Real did manage to find a way through seven minutes from time when Mesut Ozil’s cross was directed high into the net by second-half substitute Karim Benzema.

    Soon after the hosts were within one of a miraculous turnaround when Benzema kept the ball in left of the goal and cut it back for Sergio Ramos, who took one touch before lashing into the roof of the net.

    Despite goalkeeper Lopez coming up for a late corner, Madrid were unable to find the vital third and Dortmund celebrated wildly upon Howard Webb’s final whistle.

  • Fight-back Madrid beats Dortmund but fall short

    Fight-back Madrid beats Dortmund but fall short

    Borussia Dortmund survived a stirring Real Madrid fightback to book their place in the Champions League final yesterday when they conceded two late goals to lose 2-0 at the Bernabeu but went through 4-3 on aggregate.

    Real looked down and out before substitute Karim Benzema scored from close range in the 83rd minute and Sergio Ramos struck five minutes later but with the Real fans going wild in the standsDortmund held on.

    Jose Mourinho’s Real side had missed several early chances before Dortmund settled and as the home side committed more men forward in the second half the visitors squandered several opportunities of their own.

    Dortmund, the European champions in 1997 on their only appearance in the final, will play German rivals Bayern Munich or Barcelona in the May 25 showpiece at Wembley stadium.