First against the record bankruptcy: Difficult weeks without a break for BVB

First against the record bankruptcy
Difficult weeks without a break for BVB

Borussia Dortmund is going into the short Christmas break with maximum frustration, but the coming weeks will be tough again. The return of the team savior is worth gold for the internal climate, but the difficulties lurk in the game plan. And in your own story.

The club's negative record threatens, the competition could escape, but hope has a name: Erling Haaland. At the start of the groundbreaking weeks, Borussia Dortmund is counting on the return of the goal machine. "We're glad he's back," said coach Edin Terzic before the game against direct Bundesliga rivals VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday (3:30 p.m. / Sky).

The numbers justify the relief of the Favre successor – especially since child prodigy Youssoufa Moukoko (knee problems) is still absent. In the four league games without its storm jewel, BVB only won one victory and scored only five goals. Haaland's inimitable runs into the depths were just as missed as his irrepressible will to win. Verbally, the Norwegian took his recently ailing teammates to duty before the restart. "We have to set new heights. Let's set a high standard. It's simply about accelerating from the first second," Haaland told the Norwegian daily "Verdens Gang".

"Start well – end well"

Eight points separate the fifth in the table from leaders Bayern Munich. If the Black and Yellows lose to Wolfsburg, the minimum goal of the Champions League would already be five points away – and thus massively endangered. In the next few weeks, top-class players will also be waiting with Leipzig, Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach. "It's all about starting well and ending well," said Haaland with a view to the game against Lower Saxony.

Before his hamstring tore and subsequent rehab in Qatar, the 20-year-old scored 17 goals in 14 competitive games this season. "You have to rely on Haaland in Dortmund", stated the record international Lothar Matthäus on Sky. Those responsible know that too. After turbulent times including the separation from Lucien Favre, the runner-up has to get back on track – with Haaland. "He's good for us even beyond his goals. He has the absolute will and is obsessed with success," said sporting director Michael Zorc.

Everything designed for Haaland – the competition knows

Most recently, BVB conceded three home defeats in a row against FC Bayern, Cologne and Stuttgart. There have only been four bankruptcies in their own stadium in succession in the glorious history of the club: In the 1999/2000 season – at the end of the day, they finished eleventh. Haaland in particular should prevent history from repeating itself at the Terzic home premiere. With him on the field, Borussia scored 2.5 goals per game, without the irreplaceable one it was only 1.5 goals. "The whole game is tactically designed at Haaland," said CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge from rival Bayern Munich.

Therefore, rumors from Spain are likely to have prepared one or the other BVB fan for a restless turn of the year. Emili Rousaud promised that he would bring the striker to FC Barcelona if he was elected president of the traditional club on January 24th. Haaland's advisor Mino Raiola described this as "fake news", but with every hit Haaland naturally increases the desires of Europe's top clubs. BVB is dependent on goals from its striker – already on Sunday.

. (tagsToTranslate) Football (t) Borussia Dortmund (t) Football Bundesliga (t) Erling Haaland (t) FC Bayern Munich