Coach Sahin doesn’t see the game as a danger, but as an opportunity – at least publicly. “I’m happy that it’s against Leverkusen, it’s a top game and a benchmark,” said the 36-year-old. Sahin’s hope: A win should bring self-confidence and BVB into a “flow”. However, there are staffing concerns. Sabitzer is questionable due to a calf injury, Niklas Süle is injured, and central defender colleague Waldemar Anton was recently absent due to illness. DFB national player Pascal Groß is also suspended.
Dortmund cannot afford a false start, as the club has wasted too many games in the first half of the season. 25 points and sixth place after 15 games are clearly not enough for their own expectations. A defeat would be a serious setback in the race for the minimum goal of Champions League qualification and could immediately create a mood of crisis again.
Trend-setting encounters
Against Leverkusen and a week later at Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia plays against direct competitors in the fight for the premier class places. In the Champions League it will be decided in Bologna and against Donetsk whether Dortmund will move straight into the round of 16 or have to go into the play-offs.
APA/AFP/Ronny Hartmann
The additional games should be avoided at all costs given the tight schedule, in which the Club World Cup takes up a lot of space in the summer. First of all, the focus is on the restart in the league. “A win would be extremely important for the table because we would then move up against a top opponent,” said Sahin.
The Leverkusen team are currently what BVB would like to be: the first pursuers of Bayern and halfway within striking distance of the leaders from Munich. With a win, coach Xabi Alonso’s team, which has been unbeaten since the second round, would at least temporarily move within one point of the record champions. Dortmund could climb to third place with three points.
Excitement over refereeing
There were already discussions in the run-up to the game because of the controversial refereeing. For the first time in almost two years, Sascha Stegemann should have refereed a Borussia game. Stegemann denied Dortmund a legitimate penalty against VfL Bochum in April 2023, and the 1-1 draw meant the club lost two points in the duel with FC Bayern. The Munich team were finally crowned champions on the last day of the match.
Although Stegemann apologized for his mistake, he received death threats and was under police protection for four weeks. “No person in this world deserves death threats, no matter what happened,” Sahin tried to take the explosiveness off the issue at a press conference on Wednesday. “Of course the decision was a catastrophe for us as Borussia Dortmund, but you still can’t wish someone dead,” said the 36-year-old. However, Stegemann will not be able to play due to a flu-like infection. Tobias Stieler takes over for him.
