BVB loses at Union - The silence of Lucien Favre

Bundesliga

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The heat played Borussia Dortmund in the Berlin Alten Försterei in the cards. In the middle of the second half in the match against Union Berlin, there was a chance to talk to the players in the conscience. A drinking break offered the opportunity to warn, warn, challenge, advise, help, maybe even raise a bit. As Bayern Munich against Mainz only after a drinking break in the game found.

But Dortmund coach Lucien Favre remained Lucien Favre. He prepared a change with his assistants. The players who needed to be awakened from their lethargy just drank. They stayed alone. Only Sebastian Kehl, head of the licensing team, took a step forward and clapped his hands, knowing he was going in the wrong direction.

The coach remained silent.

When Favre was asked why he was not taking advantage of the opportunity he was denied in most other games, he shrugged. He had not understood the questions correctly, he said in the press conference after the 1: 3 defeat, but believe he did the right thing: In a moment in which emotions would have been in demand to tame the emotional monster Union Berlin, prepared Favre made a substitution and switched to a 4-3-3 system. The Dortmund coach remains in his skin.

Loss of control in case of setbacks

There are evenings when everything is going in the wrong direction.

Runner-debacle

Dortmund coach Lucien Favre looks after the 1: 3 debacle against promoted Union Berlin only conditionally happy. The runner-up had, as in the past season, great problems to cope with setbacks and lost earned at the Old Forester.

Probably the most touching image of the game in the stadium at the Alte Försterei: The former Dortmund midfielder Neven Subotic (middle) comforts his old teammates Raphael Guerreiro and Jacob Bruun Larsen. Subotic had intermittently played for BVB between 2008 and 2018 - and won two championships, among others.

But from the beginning: First brought Marius Bülter (left) the self-proclaimed title candidate from Dortmund with the first Bundesliga home goal for Union (22nd minute) in Zugzwang. This was already known, however, the BVB had been in all its league games initially lagged behind. Paco Alcácer (center) equalized a few minutes later (25.).

It was Alcácer's 25th goal in the 37th competitive game for Borussia Dortmund.

Not enough for the match in Berlin: Bülter (center) relented and brought Union back into the lead (50th)

Berlin goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz parried a shot from Marco Reus and saved his team before the break the lead - but he should not get too much after the restart.

Julian Brandt gave against Berlin his star debut for the Dortmund. After his substitution in the last match of BVB against Cologne fell three goals.

In Berlin, however, fell only one - and that for the hosts. Sebastian Andersson (2nd from left) made the sensation perfect with the goal to 3: 1.

"We were disgusting." That was the summary of Union coach Urs Fischer (center) after the first Bundesliga victory of his team.

And Dortmund's captain Marco Reus? The accounted as follows: "We have simply completely stupid throughout the game." He paid this and his teammates with the first defeat of the season. Berlin increased from a 0: 4 defeat against RB Leipzig, over a draw against Augsburg to victory over the runner-up.

Then the defense sleeps at a corner kick as in the 0: 1, then subverted individual players bad mistakes like Manuel Akanji in 1: 2, then that's just it. That Borussia Dortmund has big problems with annoying external circumstances is so common that the opponents can count on it - and do it.

Already in the past season, better said: the second half, the BVB lost in the slightest setbacks such as the equalizer in the derby against Schalke in his own stadium, the control, the nerves and mostly the points.

On Saturday, the BVB had lost after the 1: 2 in the 50th minute, everything that would have been necessary to prevent a defeat of the championship candidate at the promoted. The speed, of which there was little before, was lost, the precision anyway, a plan remained hidden. "We were too hasty, we should have kept our patience," said Favre.

"Thought it will be like in Cologne"

In fact, patience was the problem this evening. The concept of wanting to have control of the ball, allowing the opponent to run in heat, was certainly right given the technical and playful superiority. Eventually there would have to be opportunities.

But Union stood firm, struggling, pushing, pushing, using a factor unfamiliar to the cool Swiss favre. The Dortmund coach complained: "I think we thought a bit that it will be like in Cologne, but that was not the case." In the previous week, Dortmund had won 3-1 after poor performance and deficit.

To believe that somehow it will work, because the players are all better than the opponents, had fatal consequences. Even Captain Marco Reus criticized in an interview with the television channel "Sky": "We must stop believing that we win the games only with quality." That certainly was not addressed to Favre's address. If he nevertheless accepted it as constructive criticism, the self-appointed championship contender Borussia would certainly be helped.