BVB in crisis – develop into a disaster club in just a few steps Rain of money in the Premier League – media rights yield record amounts

No article about Borussia Dortmund without mentioning the last match of last season against Mainz. Managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke recently described May 27 as the “worst day” of his life. And so this article must start with the 2-2 draw, with which the national title was lost in our own stadium.

Or rather, with the match the week before in Augsburg. This is the best way to describe BVB’s development in recent months. Because Dortmund’s performance on that 33rd matchday of the Bundesliga was that of a top team. The day before, Bayern had lost to Leipzig. That meant: if BVB gets three points, they get the chance to win their first championship in eleven years. And that’s exactly what he did. Thanks to a confident performance and because he did not let missed opportunities bother him, he won 3-0.

The contrast with the current attitude of the team could not be greater. Six months ago, Dortmund was still playing offensively and with the self-image of a team that had only lost in Munich in 2023 and, despite some stumbling blocks such as the 3-3 draw in Stuttgart, had always found its way back on track. Edin Terzic has often been in his own half lately. The focus is on defense and Dortmund has mainly relied on counter-attacks and long balls lately.

The coach had already indicated last season that BVB was not a top team because he “kept messing things up” and “giving away” opportunities. Now the 41-year-old has his team playing like outsiders.

Dortmund was statistically significantly inferior to Leverkusen, Milan and twice VfB Stuttgart. The fact that BVB has difficulty finding playful solutions is especially evident in pressing situations. In the 2-0 defeat in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup, this glaring weakness was mercilessly exposed by the Stuttgart team. Dortmund repeatedly lost the ball unnecessarily in their own half, without the once again excellent Gregor Kobel the score would probably only have been 0-1 in the 55th minute – and the defeat could have been considerably worse.

The new path chosen must at least bring success, at the expense of the game’s attractiveness. This seems to work in the Champions League; participation in the round of 16 is certain even before the last match. On a national level, Dortmund has once again shown its limits. Captain Emre Can’s assessment after being eliminated from the cup was devastating in an interview with ZDF: “It was missing from the front and back. We were not strong enough in the matches and it was a football catastrophe, to be honest.”

And many more things are going wrong in the club. The unity seems to be crumbling, and rumors of disagreements between coach Terzic and sports director Sebastian Kehl have increased recently. Although Kehl tried to paint a public picture of unity, the separation of sports coordinator Slaven Stanic – a confidante of Kehl who was only hired in May this year – suggests that it is not all peace, joy and pancakes. Stanic is said to have previously made negative comments about Terzic in the background.

The unattractive football in combination with the recent poor results also affects the fans. Many people express their dissatisfaction with Terzic’s work, especially on social media. At the same time, Kehl also faces criticism because none of his commitments have really gotten off the ground. The loss of Jude Bellingham, who flourished even more at Real Madrid than in Dortmund, is still very difficult.

And now Donyell Malen, who is still one of the better players at BVB this season but is reportedly no longer really happy, is threatening to leave the club with another top player. The mood in the Ruhr area could be better in every respect.

But just like with football, that can change quickly. There is an important match against Leipzig on Saturday evening in the battle for the Champions League places, and next week the ‘black and yellow’ can secure group victory in the premier class with a point against PSG. Dortmund must show a response in these two games, because as Emre Can emphasizes: “It absolutely cannot continue like this.”