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Too many goals, not enough game intelligence, poor room layout - this is not a wrapper of an overzealous TV commentator against the master contender Borussia Dortmund. It is the verdict of the black and yellow players themselves. "We have a few construction sites," summarized Julian Brandt on Saturday night after the 2: 2 at SC Freiburg diplomatically together.
Again 2: 2. For BVB it was the third Bundesliga match in a row with this result, before the match in Freiburg, the runner-up against Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen had gambled his lead. On Saturday, neither a volley goal by Axel Witsel nor a goal forced by Achraf Hakimi for the Dortmund victory was enough. Luca Waldschmidt made up for the hosts to 1: 1 in the meantime, in the 90th minute bounced a harmless Freiburg pass from the leg of BVB defender Manuel Akanji into the net. The Freiburg celebrated the late equalizer as a winner, while the guests from Dortmund left the field.
Actually, BVB has a highly invested team with title potential. Not many teams across Europe can stand against the dribbling of Jadon Sancho, the passport security of Axel Witsel and the speed of Achraf Hakimi. Actually. But in this season, the Dortmund create too rarely to derive success from their quality. Why is that? "If we knew that, we would change it," Brandt complained after the game.
The problem with the late conceding
The Dortmund team had the ball more often and just kept him safer in the first half than their opponent, and she worked her way up eleven corners. But only one goal came from the numerous standards, BVB scored only seven shots in the match - only one more than Freiburg.
"More control" calls the Dortmund coach Lucien Favre happy after unsuccessful games, most recently after the 2: 2 against Bremen. But in the current season shows clearly that sovereign ball pushing is not enough. "Maybe we control too much and do not attack enough," Dortmund midfielder Thomas Delaney speculated on Saturday. His captain Marco Reus expressed this even more drastically: "Our ball possession phases are fine, but without any danger to the opponent."
Ralph Orlowski / REUTERS
Mats Hummels on the way to the debate in the BVB cabin
According to Mats Hummels, BVB players discussed this harmlessness with the ball immediately after the match in the cabin. It was obviously also heated.
For the ambitious Borussia, the current season record is sobering. But she is not yet a cause for panic. In the Bundesliga table on Saturday evening were only four points between the top ten places. Without the two late own goals against Bremen and Freiburg, the situation for Dortmund would be very different. "Realistically, we do not have to play well," Hummels admitted on Saturday, "but you have to see that with a bit of luck, we would be first in the table." Nevertheless, the high standards Borussia Dortmund has formulated this year clearly. However, the team does not do it justice.
What makes Freiburg strong
From modest, overjoyed second in the table from Freiburg, the BVB stars can still look a lot. In contrast to helplessness at the highest level in Dortmund, the professionals from Breisgau seem to know exactly what they need for their success.
"There is a basic base, which is independent of the player type," said SC coach Christian Streich on Saturday: you have to be ready to torment yourself. "Energy, power, dynamism, faith, not giving up," Streich said, that had felt in each of his players.
Patrick Seeger / DPA
Luca Waldschmidt scored against Dortmund already his fourth goal of the season
Symptomatic a scene in the 60th minute, as Freiburg's Lucas Höler worked on the left wing and could only be stopped by three BVB players. The crowd cheered the striker's effort, and Streich romped his fists on the sideline. His team had the better tackle balance, left the Dortmund offensive in front of the penalty bar space and earned such a point. Waldschmidt called this a will-power. The Dortmunder do not like to talk about mentality.
While it crunches at BVB, the SC Freiburg resting in itself. The fans celebrated before the game, the new DFB president, her former club president Fritz Keller, so heartily that the 62-year-old came to tears. In conversation with Der Spiegel, however, the top DFB official warned against too much satisfaction: "On the outside, peace is important, but internally everything must always be questioned." You always make the biggest mistakes when you're feeling too well.
On this Saturday evening the Freiburgers were doing well. Very well. The commitment, the tactics, the result, and the game luck was right. "The audience was thrilled," said Christian Streich, "and on this day I have to admit: me too."
SC Freiburg - Borussia Dortmund 2: 2 (0: 1)
0: 1 Witsel (20th)
1: 1 Waldschmidt (55.)
1: 2 Kübler (own goal, 67.)
2: 2 Akanji (own goal, 90.)
Freiburg: Schwolow - Kübler, Koch, Heintz - Schmid, Abrashi, Höfler, Günter - Waldschmidt, Höler, Haberer
Dortmund: Bürki - Piszczek, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro - Witsel, Delaney - Hakimi, Reus, Hazard - Gotze
Referee: Jablonski
Spectators: 24,000
