Symbolized by doubles from Sancho and Haaland, the individual class of stars of Dortmund got the better of the collective strength of RB Leipzig, swept 4-1, Thursday, May 13, in the final of the German Cup.
Deprived of their fans behind closed doors, the Yellow and Black nonetheless delivered an almost perfect match, almost folded at the break. They stifled RB Leipzig of Julian Nagelsmann, whose possession of the ball (61%) proved to be completely sterile. Borussia succeeds Bayern Munich, eliminated this season in the 16es final.
In the huge Olympic stadium in Berlin (75,000 seats) which sounded empty, Borussia led 3-0 at halftime. And the team led by interim coach Edin Terzic, who took up the torch after the dismissal of Lucien Favre in December, had found for one evening its conquering and daring training DNA, which it seemed to have lost in recent years.
Jadon Sancho, the 20-year-old English wisp, opened the brand at the 5e minute. After a counter initiated by captain Marco Reus, who had scratched a ball in midfield, Sancho inherited the ball in the box. Badly pressed by Nordi Mukiele, he found the space to score almost without momentum from a curled ball from the right (1-0, 5e).
Dazzling Marco Reus
Shortly after, Erling Haaland doubled down on another sumptuous goal. Thrown diagonally into the box by Marco Reus, the young Norwegian unbalanced Dayot Upamecano with a dribble from the right, before changing his foot to take a ball from the left above the goalkeeper in the opposite angle (2-0, 28e).
The lightning fell a few seconds before the break: on a counter, Reus – dazzling in this final – embarked on the left the goalkeeper and a defender before offering the goal to Jadon Sancho (3-0, 45e+1).
Julian Nagelsmann, the 33-year-old star coach who signed for Bayern Munich for next season, could not remain unresponsive. The entries of Yussuf Poulsen and Christopher Nkunku in attack at the break, then Emil Forsberg at the hour mark, effectively changed the dynamics of the match, and the RB finally created chances. Nkunku hit the bar 45 seconds after the restart, and Forsberg the post in the 71e, a few seconds before Dani Olmo’s goal (3-1, 71e), who gave the Saxons heartwarming, 20 minutes from the end.
But Dortmund’s defense held on, and on yet another block, Haaland served by Sancho nailed the coffin in the 87e minute (4-1), with a somewhat lucky shot where he lost his balance, taking goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi off guard.
For Leipzig and Nagelsmann, who both hoped to win their very first trophy, the disillusion is painful. But this demonstration especially puts Dortmund on the map of German football. Those who thought that Leipzig – almost assured of second place in the Bundesliga this season – had definitely earned the status of “Second great in Germany” behind Bayern will have to be disillusioned.
In direct confrontations, the Saxons have not beaten Dortmund since October 2017, a series of eight games (six Borussia wins and two draws). The Ruhr club won its last title in 2017, already the German Cup. His trainer was then Thomas Tuchel, then left for Paris SG and Chelsea, with whom he will play on May 29 in the Champions League final. For Leipzig, this failure is the second in the cup final, after a 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich in 2019.