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Is he still cheering – or is he giving instructions again?
In a more offensive role, Jude Bellingham steered Dortmund's game against Leverkusen
Photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images
The scene of the game:
Soccer is a precision sport.
It is not uncommon for centimeters to make the difference between victory and defeat: offside positions, interface passes - everyone knows that. Bayer professional Nadiem Amiri could do nothing for the centimeters that stood between Bayer Leverkusen and a chance against BVB on this Sunday evening: His 1, 80 meters was literally a hair's breadth too little to stop Jude Bellingham's perfect transfer of play to Dortmund's right wing with a header.
That's where the disaster took its course, Marius Wolf's cross pushed Edmond Tapsoba in the center unhappily over his own goal line (53rd minute).
The result:
The 0-2 (0-1) final result from Bayer 04's point of view can also be considered unfortunate, the first defeat after five wins in a row.
Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, scored nine out of nine possible points in the calendar year and is fourth only three points behind FC Bayern Munich.
Read the match report here.
Haller: Eins, Krebs: Nuuull:
Both Xabi Alonso and Edin Terzić tinkered a bit with their recently successful starting formations.
The measures taken by the BVB coach were probably the most notable - above all up front in the attack: After surviving testicular cancer, Sébastien Haller made his starting eleven debut for Dortmund.
The 28-year-old didn't even have a shot on goal, but blocked the path towards Karim Adeyemi before the lead and put Tapsoba under decisive pressure before the 2-0.
The tens of the game:
With the inclusion of Haller, however, hardly half of the Dortmund adjustments have been told.
So Jude Bellingham moved back into the starting lineup after serving a yellow card suspension - but not on the double six, from where the Englishman was previously allowed to boost the BVB game alongside Salih Özcan or Emre Can.
No, Terzić pushed temporary playmaker Julian Brandt (who also contributed his 50th Bundesliga assist) to the right wing and deployed Bellingham in central attacking midfield.
A role that the BVB youngster is already familiar with from the national team – and which he also filled with enthusiasm and inventiveness against Leverkusen.
How long he can keep it is open: Shortly before the end of the game, ten-man Marco Reus celebrated his comeback from the bench after ankle problems.
There are no goals where there is Kobel:
The BVB coach owes the fact that Terzić's changes can be considered a success to a man who, not entirely coincidentally, has recently been said to have been the leader of the league, Bayern Munich: Gregor Kobel was always there on the spot when things got dicey for BVB.
And that was often the case: when Florian Wirtz sent Moussa Diaby down (16'), when Diaby's second big chance (48'), when Amine Adli headed the ball (57') - Kobel always reacted brilliantly.
The fact that BVB is still doing so well despite offensive jamming and a defense that allows a lot game per game is mainly due to the Swiss.
The express train has arrived:
young national player, 30 million euros transfer fee: The expectations with which Karim Adeyemi switched to BVB in the summer were not small.
She became even more ungrateful when Haller fell ill and striker Adeyemi suddenly had to play far out on the wing to pass crosses to substitute Anthony Modeste, when the 20-year-old prefers to finish himself.
Against Leverkusen, Adeyemi also found this successful for the first time: after a one-two between Bellingham and Brandt, the youngster scored his first Bundesliga goal (33rd).
Will it continue like this?
In terms of defensive diligence, Adeyemi's appearance was an application for further opportunities.
Wider, ever wider:
What should also benefit the BVB wingers is the replacement of the full-back positions: Wolf shone on the right with diligence, speed and important ball wins, on the left winter signing Julian Ryerson proved his flexibility.
For the first time this season, BVB had players on both sides of defence, who had the athletic and playful skills to be an offensive option right down to the last line on the wing, to widen the game and the opposing formation to pull apart.
These are important qualities in a team that doesn't have any trained wingers.
The way up:
Despite the one-sided result, this exchange of blows between Bayer and Borussia once again showed that when these two teams meet, two of the best teams in the Bundesliga are playing against each other.
The fact that they are still only fourth (BVB) and ninth (Bayer) should change in the second half of the season.
Dortmund have the next chance to do so on Saturday (3.30 p.m.) when they host SC Freiburg for the top game.
Leverkusen already occurs on Friday (8.30 p.m.) at table 14.
FC Augsburg.