Debate about “shitty performance”
Borussia Dortmund’s own promise is blown upside down
May 12, 2024, 7:33 a.m
Borussia Dortmund sent a B team into the race against FSV Mainz 05, played terribly badly and suffered a major defeat. The hosts thereby secure three, possibly a maximum of important points in the relegation battle. BVB coach Edin Terzic defends himself.
The great night in Paris is followed by the terrible evening in Mainz. In the French capital, Borussia Dortmund celebrates its entry into the final of the Champions League on Tuesday – and (quite rightly) above all, itself. On Saturday, the Bundesliga club’s B team goes down quietly to relegation candidates FSV Mainz 05. The contrasts couldn’t be greater. We know that from BVB this season. But still, the bankruptcy in the MEWA Arena is one that is getting more attention than others before it.
The Black and Yellows’ embarrassing 3-0 defeat gave the relegation battle a new dynamic. After just 23 minutes, all hopes of Mainz’s competitors 1. FC Köln, Union Berlin and VfL Bochum for BVB’s help were gone. The 05ers were already leading 3-0 after just 23 minutes. BVB couldn’t get a leg on the ground or a body in a duel. Everything seemed shockingly dispassionate and apathetic. The Dortmunders had previously promised that everything would turn out completely differently.
In the rush of the party night in Paris, Nico Schlotterbeck made a big promise to his brother Keven, central defender at VfL Bochum: “Did someone say Wembley!!!,” wrote Nico Schlotterbeck on Instagram after the sensation against PSG and added: “PS: Don’t worry, Bochum will give 110 percent on Saturday!” Edin Terzić also has a few “friendly connections” with the neighborhood club; he studied in Bochum. “Some of those who sat on the university bench with me now work for VfL,” said the coach before the game. “We’re doing our job, the others down there should sort this out among themselves.”
“You just can’t lose”
There was no sign of 110 percent. Nor do any of the announced seriousness of the job. Sure, for BVB the league is no longer about anything. Qualification for the Champions League, the minimum goal in the bread-and-butter competition, has been achieved. Full focus on Wembley, on the premier class final. And definitely not a stupid injury to a top performer in a game in which Dortmund can no longer win anything for themselves. It was different with Mainz, they had recently put themselves in a worse starting position and absolutely needed this threesome. This was achieved with great courage and in a great atmosphere. “We felt it during the warm-up, this energy in the stadium – you just can’t lose,” said midfielder Nadiem Amiri later. Jonathan Burkardt simply felt “pure joy.”
The supporters of the big rivals in the relegation battle do not share this feeling. There is a lot of anger at BVB’s performance on social networks and the various fan forums. The word distortion of competition is often used. With Mainz’s victory, the starting position of 1. FC Köln and Union Berlin has deteriorated extremely. Cologne (27 points) can now only catch Köpenicker (30) on matchday 34. Union, for its part, can only avoid relegation if the competition makes a mistake on matchday 34.
And VfL Bochum would be ahead of the duel against Bayer Leverkusen (7.30 p.m. on DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de) would certainly have been saved if Borussia won. So the most thankless task in European football awaits us this evening. It’s hard to imagine that the Bochum team will break Bayer’s giant streak and prevent them from reaching their 50th game without defeat. But: Xabi Alonso’s team suffered their last competitive defeat on matchday 34 of last season.
“That was a shitty performance on our part”
BVB coach Terzić does not want to be held responsible for distorting competition, despite his huge rotation, which brought ten new players into the starting line-up. “I can understand that someone is disappointed. But we are not responsible for the situation the clubs find themselves in. We are very dissatisfied with our position in the Bundesliga. That’s what makes us angry. We have another one demands on our performance.” According to the coach, it wasn’t due to the composition of the starting eleven, because a similarly restructured team won 5-1 against FC Augsburg a week ago. “We wanted to bring freshness back, we wanted to distribute chances – and that didn’t work today. Of course I take responsibility for that. That’s why I’m not happy with myself today.”
Once again, BVB demonstrated why this season is so strange. Passionate and brilliant in Europe. Sleepy, sometimes even listless, in the Bundesliga. “We have to put up with the stupid questions again. We have proven that we can show really mature football. Unfortunately, we have not proven that we can show it consistently. That annoys me massively,” said the BVB coach. Sky expert Lothar Matthäus took the Dortmund team harshly to task. The Borussia team deserved “a straight six” in the first half, he said, “without meaning to offend anyone.” There were too many players “who weren’t there and didn’t show the right attitude,” said Matthäus.
Ex-captain Marco Reus, who is leaving this summer, said he would fully understand if criticism were to arise from Mainz’s relegation rivals. “We simply expect more from ourselves,” said Reus. Salih Öczan, who once played for 1. FC Köln, said: “Nobody took advantage of the chance today. We made it very clear that we wanted to use the three weeks. This is a defeat that probably hurts Cologne a lot. But there’s no way we’re influencing anything. That was a shitty performance on our part.”