VfB is level with Bayern
Stuttgart crashes Dortmund’s big stadium party
April 6, 2024, 8:32 p.m
A great choreography and lots of pyrotechnics: The fans celebrate the 50th birthday of the Dortmund stadium. But it doesn’t help BVB much: VfB Stuttgart wins 1-0 thanks to a goal from Serhou Guirassy. The Black and Yellows have to worry about the Champions League again.
Borussia Dortmund suffered a bitter defeat on its big stadium anniversary and is worried about qualifying for the Champions League again. BVB lost 0-1 (0-0) against the well-organized VfB Stuttgart in a long disappointing top game and slipped to fifth place in the table behind RB Leipzig. In three weeks there will be a direct duel – with possibly a decisive character.
This meant that Dortmund’s winning streak was broken after five competitive games in the trickiest weeks of the season; the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid is scheduled for Wednesday. VfB, on the other hand, can plan its comeback to the big football stage thanks to top scorer Serhou Guirassy’s 24th goal of the season (64th). The duel was all about the fight for qualification for the premier class, and for many on the pitch it was also a bidding game for national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s European Championship squad – and BVB was celebrating an anniversary.
The Westfalenstadion was opened 50 years ago and has seen so many special games since then: an 11:1 against Arminia Bielefeld in 1982. A phenomenal 4:4 after 4:0 against FC Schalke in 2017. The Champions League miracle against FC Malaga 2013. The fans celebrated with a choreography across all sides of the stadium, with the huge south stand lighting up a golden 50. BVB played in a special jersey.
Guirassy scores, Schlotterbeck misses
Since national player Waldemar Anton was suspended and VfB was missing two other central defenders injured, Angelo Stiller and Hiroki Ito countered Dortmund’s attacks in the center. After winning the ball, Enzo Millot organized the counterattack, which was not very effective, and BVB looked for depth with Karim Adeyemi and Jadon Sancho. Marcel Sabitzer, who was suspended during the win in Munich (2-0), came into the starting line-up for Felix Nmecha – but Emre Can fired the first dangerous 20-meter shot (14th).
Otherwise, the first 20 minutes were a blur, probably also because Leipzig had increased the pressure on both teams with a win in Mainz. Guirassy didn’t catch the ball properly on Stuttgart’s first chance (25th) – VfB wanted their third win in a season against the slowly trying BVB after the cup (2:0) and the league first leg (2:1).
But he got a huge chance from Adeyemi, who failed alone in front of Alexander Nübel (32nd): Losses of the ball in the center circle immediately became a danger for the guests. BVB pulled themselves together, but didn’t get a long period of pressure on the pitch even after the break. Many attacks fizzled out well before the final pass, with the exception of a header chance from Niclas Füllkrug (60th).
On the other hand, VfB didn’t get to see its new national player Deniz Undav or Guirassy for an hour: This was mainly due to the rarely working interaction between Millot and Chris Führich. Mats Hummels in his 499th competitive game for BVB and Nico Schlotterbeck could hardly be shaken in Dortmund’s central defense – until Guirassy struck after good preparation by Jamie Leweling. On the other side, Schlotterbeck then had to equalize, but the defender shot the ball miserably well over the goal from very close range (81′).