Albanian Wall in Dortmund
European Championship defending champion Italy escapes the red hell
By Emmanuel Schneider, Dortmund
16.06.2024, 08:35
Dortmund suddenly has a red wall. Thousands of fans of the Albanian national team take over the football capital of Germany and almost see a European Championship sensation at the start of the group stage. In the end, the only thing left is victory in the stands.
Sometimes it only takes 23 seconds. That’s how long it took on Saturday evening to completely set fire to the Dortmund stadium, which was already ablaze anyway. After a catastrophic throw-in by the Italian Federico Dimarco, Albania’s winger Nedim Bajrami, who earns his money in Italy at Sassuolo, had a clear path in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma and hammered the ball under the crossbar from a tight angle. And all this in front of his own fans. The Red Wall in Dortmund.
Seconds of escalation followed. The stadium was rarely so loud. The underdog was alive and trembling. A huge collective scream went through the arena, along with a beer mug throwing alarm. Beer containers sailed left and right past the media stands (and right into the middle). The red hell swallowed up the defending champion. Bajrami also set a European Championship record with his goal. No player had ever scored a goal faster at a European Championship finals. Albania, that was clear after just 23 seconds, had officially registered for this European Championship. Tirana will be there too.
“Everything very peaceful”
The Albanian celebration had been apparent all day. The fans crowded into the Westphalian city in bright colors to celebrate their national team and their second participation in the European Championship after 2016. Red everywhere you looked. In the city, in front of the stadium, in the stadium. With a few green, white and red splashes. Albania has a home game in Dortmund on this first match day and let everyone know that.
An estimated 50,000 Albanian fans, although this number has not been confirmed by the authorities, are said to have found their way to the Ruhr metropolis and celebrated a peaceful red-black festival. According to police, there was only one incident in the late afternoon. At 4 p.m., 50 “high-risk fans” from Italy were arrested in the city center, Dortmund police said. These armed fans are said to have planned an attack on Albanian supporters. “We were able to stop this immediately,” a police spokesman said in response to a request from ntv.de. The 50 problem fans were taken into police custody. Otherwise: “Everything was very peaceful,” a police spokesman said. Tens of thousands celebrated in the fan zones and in the city.
Even on the evening after the game, everything remained relaxed for the time being. There was a “non-critical departure phase”, the stadium and the fan zones “emptied quickly”, said a police spokesman in an interview with ntv.de. “Everything was unproblematic”. There was an exceptional party atmosphere in Dortmund throughout the day. Where everything is usually black and yellow, almost everything was red on Saturday. The central locations in the city were dominated by fans of the “Kuq e zinjtë”, the red and black team. The supporters started their motorcade early on, honking and displaying their national flag. Dortmund in Albanian hands.
“Away game” for the defending champion
They then streamed together from the Reinoldi Church towards the football temple. Three young people with Albanian roots, who had travelled from Hamburg and were dressed in red, looked wide-eyed at the biggest stadium of this European Championship. “Just pure anticipation,” they said, hoping for an opening victory. The Italian Tifosi stood in amazement in front of the entrance. It was “like an away game,” said one. “But it will be fine.” In terms of sport, he still expects great things from the European Championship surprise package that is Italy.
“Quarter-finals?” he is asked. “No, no, it has to be the final – title.” Si, si. Then the Italian bus rolls up. The blue team is booed mercilessly – everyone knows that in Dortmund. Ten minutes later the Albanian team bus pulls up and the atmosphere is heated up, it gets really loud.
As defensive as the Albanian team is on the pitch, the many fans were just as aggressive in attack, some of whom came to the stadium wearing traditional Albanian headgear and created a home game atmosphere. The situation was already clear during the warm-up. Massive whistling for the Italians, ecstasy and loud applause when the Albanians came onto the pitch.
Complicated group
In the stands, the Reds clearly dominated the opening phase. It was so loud – it could really be a derby. Albania, who were comfortably first in their European Championship qualifying group ahead of the Czech Republic and Poland, wanted to trip up the defending champions straight away. In the difficult Group B with Croatia and Spain, a good start is all the more important.
And Italy? Something between “a bit” of a favorite and a hot tip to be the favorites’ downfall. Defending champions, of course, but between the 2021 European Championship coup they missed out on participation in the World Cup twice. Bitter setbacks. Under new coach Luciano Spalletti, who took over the team in September 2023 for Roberto Mancini, who had moved to Saudi Arabia and a lot of petrodollars, the Azzurri found their way in qualifying. In eight games there was only one defeat – against England, and Italy qualified for the European Championship in second place behind the Three Lions.
It is a team without the big names, without the big stars, especially in attack. No Immobile, no Verratti – and then it’s the first tournament since 2006 without the defensive greats Giorgio Chiellini or Leonardo Bonucci. Speaking of 2006. They have good memories of Dortmund in Italy. At the last major tournament in Germany, the Squadra Azzurra brutally knocked out the German summer fairytale team. Shortly afterwards, Italy won the World Cup trophy.
Ice cold shower after 22 seconds
And let’s not forget: The Italian league can lay claim to the title of the best in Europe. Seven clubs from Serie A reached the round of 16 in one of the three European competitions in the 2023/24 season. Atalanta won the Europa League, Florence reached the final of the Conference League. Thanks to their good performances, Serie A secured first place in the UEFA one-year rankings and an additional CL starting place.
All of this was to no avail to prevent the ice-cold shower after 22 seconds. Bajrami scored and the stadium exploded. In those moments, the first sensation of the tournament seemed within reach. The favorite staggered into the middle of the red hell. But then something happened that was not necessarily expected. The giant quickly pulled itself out of the mess. Spalletti’s eleven equalized almost immediately.
Italy shook itself and pulled itself together. The historic shock was followed by a double blow. After a beautiful cross from Lorenzo Pellegrini, central defender Alessandro Bastoni (11th) nodded in the equalizer. Just five minutes later, Nicolo Barella converted a fantastic shot from distance into the left corner. 2:1. Guess who’s back. And lo and behold: for the first time, it became a little quieter in the stadium. The ice-cold favorite flexed its muscles and could have easily led by even more.
“Sometimes we were too comfortable”
In the 33rd minute, Davide Frattesi chipped the ball onto the post, partly because the alert keeper Thomas Strakosha was still able to get to it. Seven minutes later, Strakosha again made a strong save against Gianluca Scamacca. The background noise in the stadium was now noticeably quieter, especially in the second half. The potential was still there. Especially when the Albanians went on the attack, which happened less and less often. The chants lost their decibel power. It was as if the fans themselves no longer fully believed in this small football miracle.
The 2021 European champions now played calmly, as you would expect from an Italian team. Barella and Federico Chiesa in particular took control of the game. Italy now looked like a top team. Substitute Arber Hoxha encouraged the Albanian spectators to give their all. But “Kuq e zinjtë” didn’t manage much from the game. Rey Manaj missed what was probably the biggest chance shortly before the final whistle. The score remained 1:2. Then the confident German referee Felix Zwayer blew the whistle.
While Albania will probably rightly lay claim to the imaginary title of European champions of atmosphere, Italy remains a European Championship enigma. If they can stop their lack of chances, they can be reckoned with. “It could have gone wrong a few times. Sometimes we were a bit too comfortable,” complained Spalletti. After the final whistle, the stadium director played the classic “Un’ estate italiana”. An Italian summer? Spalletti’s team can certainly be trusted to do so after the evening they survived in the red hell.