Excitement after defeat against TSG
The penalty hoopla has BVB firmly under control
February 26, 2024, 7:05 a.m
The first defeat of the year hits Borussia Dortmund hard. Players and coaches mainly struggle with their own performance, but there is also excitement again about a penalty area scene. BVB wants to be awarded a hand penalty late.
Borussia Dortmund is once again discussing a penalty. In the Bundesliga game against TSG Hoffenheim (2:3) not because the opponent was awarded one, but because BVB did not receive the expected penalty. Referee Marco Fritz didn’t blow his whistle when Marcel Sabitzer shot towards the goal from almost 20 meters in the 82nd minute and the ball hit the arm of his Austrian compatriot Florian Grillitsch.
Just last week the excitement in the Champions League was huge. Mats Hummels had written on
Now it wasn’t the Champions League, but the Bundesliga, and not in our own penalty area, but in the opponent’s. The BVB players are still annoyed. “Well, I think there have already been penalties for a situation like this. Regardless of whether it was deflected, it increases the body surface,” complained BVB keeper Alexander Meyer, who represented the injured Gregor Kobel, at DAZN. Meyer also felt that the shot probably wouldn’t have caused any danger either way. Nevertheless, “we have seen lately that there have been penalties for this.” DAZN expert Sami Khedira saw it the same way: “Of course you can argue that it wouldn’t have been dangerous. But I still tend to think it was a penalty.”
“If I chop it off…”
Of course, Grillitsch himself had a different opinion: “For me it was clearly not a penalty, I stand there normally with my hands next to my body. And then he shoots me in the arm. If I chop it off or give it behind my back, then “It doesn’t hit him, but I stood there completely normally. I can’t do anything else.” In the situation, Fritz immediately indicated that the game should continue. At the next break in play, he briefly communicated with the video assistant but stuck to his decision. Grillitsch was sure that it would happen the same way: “100 percent. It was clear to me that it wasn’t, but you never know. There have also been penalties given that supposedly weren’t. So you always have to be careful .”
According to DAZN, Fritz’s decision was supported by the spokesman for the DFB referees, Alex Feuerherdt. An important criterion was that the arm was not stiff, but hung limply. This is an aspect that speaks against the intention.
Ultimately, BVB lost the game and suffered their first defeat of 2024. The frustration, disappointment and also helplessness were great. Not just because of the missed penalty. Julian Brandt didn’t mince his words. “It was an absolutely pointless game, it was totally unnecessary. We brought an opponent back to life with sloppy balls. That’s crazy,” said the national soccer player.
Terzić is “extremely frustrated”
Instead of consolidating their place in the Champions League, BVB is still only one point ahead of RB Leipzig and has a much more difficult program in the eleven remaining games. “I don’t feel like defeats and draws. We have to win as quickly as possible,” demanded Brandt. To do this, Dortmund must correct a number of mistakes and avoid negligent actions. “We have a difficult decision to make when we want to play and when it makes sense to take the long ball. That’s what annoys me the most, it just annoys me and is difficult to accept,” complained Brandt.
BVB carelessly gave up their half-time lead thanks to goals from Donyell Malen (21′) and Nico Schlotterbeck (25′). “In the second half we double or triple our individual mistakes,” Brandt said. Double packer Maximilian Beier (61st/64th) punished this coldly. Ihlas Bebou (2nd) had already given the guests the lead once before.
Criticism of Edin Terzić is likely to increase again. The coach criticized deficits in “residual defense and protection”. It was entirely BVB’s fault for “letting the opponent get back into the game. That’s extremely frustrating.” They “invited the opponent and created scoring opportunities with little effort.” Hoffenheim – previously winless in eight games – accepted the invitation.