It has been 11 years since Borussia Dortmund last won the Bundesliga title, and they are in no mood to let it out of their hands now, with the finish line of the incredible 2022/23 title race in sight.
bundesliga.com outlines five reasons why BVB will lift the German title at the end of May…
1) It’s all in their own hands
It may be one of the oldest adages in football, but that doesn’t stop it being true. Dortmundgo into the final five matches of the 2022/23 Bundesliga season one point ahead of Bayern at the top, meaning they just have to win all five of those and they are champions. Expect Edin Terzic to drill that into his charges, as he hopes to haul them closer to that coveted prize one match at a time.
While Dortmund’s lead over their big rivals may be slender, there is so much for them to feel positive about. Very few teams have failed to see home an advantage in the title race at this stage of the season, for one. In fact, only once in the last 20 seasons has the team top of the pile going into Matchday 30 not won the Meisterschale (when VfB Stuttgart overtook Schalke in 2006/07). The past three times Dortmund have been top of the table at this stage of the season, they also ended up with their hands on the trophy.
As goalkeeper Gregor Kobel said after the 4-0 win against Frankfurt on Matchday 29 that moved Dortmund back to the summit: “To be top again and have everything in our own hands is an incredible feeling. It makes us proud.”
2) The form team in the race
There is no greater feeling for a team than having momentum on their side, and BVBcurrently have that in abundance. They began 2023 in stunning style, racking up win after win – 10 in a row in total in all competitions between January and the start of March.
While no team of mortals would have been able to keep that pace going for much longer, a run of three Bundesliga matches without defeat in which they have smashed nine goals has seen their form tick up again at the ideal time.
A table of the second half of the season shows BVB comfortably on top with 29 points gained from 12 matches so far. Since the start of 2023 they have gobbled up 10 more points than Bayern and hit more goals than any other team too, 41. The stats on shooting efficiency show a remarkable turnaround over the winter. Before the winter break, Dortmund and Schalke had the joint-poorest shooting efficiency (-3.8, which is to say they had scored fewer goals than statistically expected), but the league leaders now boast the best by some distance (+14.1).
That all contrasts markedly to the situation in Munich, where the defending champions are currently struggling to click into gear. Indeed, Bayern have failed to win four competitive matches in a row for the first time in over four years, at entirely the wrong time of the season from their perspective.
They have also failed to score more than one goal in any of their past six fixtures in all competitions. Momentum appears to be taking Thomas Tuchel’s charges in the opposite direction.
3) Favourable fixtures
With every match from now to the end of the campaign representing the chance to take a big step towards their dream, the circumstances surrounding the fixtures become vital. Dortmund’s final five games all look winnable, on paper at least, with only two opponents are currently in the top half in the table, and none of the top six.
First up are Bochum, which represents potentially a tricky encounter against local rivals. Bochum have been around the lower reaches of the table all season though, and lost 5-1 at home to Wolfsburg last weekend.
Next are the visits of Wolfsburg and Gladbach to Dortmund, two teams whose seasons have been marked by inconsistency. Then an away trip to Augsburg, who are quite likely to be safe from relegation danger at that stage. Lastly, a potential final-day decider at home to Mainz – a tough team, as Bayern found out in their recent 3-1 defeat, but one that is beatable if history is Dortmund’s to grasp by then.
The fact that three of those fixtures are at home has to be a big boon to Dortmund’s hopes. They have the best home record in the Bundesliga by some distance – winning 12 of their 14 matches at Signal Iduna Park this term.
Indeed, by the high standards of Germany’s famously passionate football fans, Dortmund’s home ground, and in particular the Yellow Wall, are just legendary.
Mythical, magical, mystical: however you choose to describe it, playing in front of Dortmund’s 25,000 capacity, packed-out, standing-only south terrace is something the club’s players all live for.
Goosebumps are guaranteed when the roar hits at kick-off, and even more so when goals are scored. You’ve no doubt heard of fans being a team’s 12th man, and in Dortmund’s case it is undoubtedly true.
The prospect of the Dortmund faithful roaring their heroes to the club’s first Bundesliga title in over a decade against Mainz on the final day of the season is very real.
4) Youthful energy dashed with experience
There is something special brewing in Dortmund’s squad. Everyone is chipping in to the title effort. Gio Reyna’s goal that briefly gave them a 3-2 lead in Stuttgart on Matchday 28 was the 13th goal a substitute had scored for BVB this season – more than at any other club, with Bayern finding just six goals from substitutes.
Reyna is one of five players 21 or under to have netted for Dortmund this season. The fearlessness of youth has definitely been a factor in their success, with 19-year-old Jude Bellingham masterfully marshalling their midfield, the sheer pace of 21-year-old Karim Adeyemi stretching defences, and vital goals coming from the artful attacking 18-year-old pair of Youssoufa Moukoko and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
While only Stuttgart, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg have fielded sides this season with a lower average age than Dortmund, the experience provided by some of the older hands in the dressing room really comes into its own at this stage of the season.
The irrepressible captain, Marco Reus, and defensive stalwart Mats Hummels are players who have been there, done it and got the T-Shirt. Nobody in the squad understands the soul of the club and can better explain the weight of carrying it to the younger players than Reus, who has been at BVB for over a decade. Hummels has five league titles to his name at Dortmund and Bayern. The pair could prove to be invaluable in the coming weeks in getting the 2022/23 title over the line.
5) Edin Terzic: Klopp 2.0
What’s that about a young and energetic coach guiding Dortmund to the title and breaking Bayern’s hearts? In 2011 and 2012 it was a fresh-faced Jürgen Klopp who made Black-and-Yellow dreams come true. Fast-forward a decade and it Terzic is who is ready to take over Klopp’s mantle.
Terzic began his coaching career at Dortmund’s youth ranks while Klopp was at the club and naturally looks up to the now Liverpool supremo. “He’s a great person, a great coach, he had a big impact on all of us, especially on me,” Terzic told ESPN.
“I’m so happy that I was allowed to work for him – not with him, but for him – during that time, and I’m happy to have seen so many good things and to have learned from him. I’m still in touch with him now.”
Whereas Klopp famously delivered on his promises to play Heavy Metal Football, Terzic has allowed his players to talk on the pitch. The incredible assortment of attacking talents currently at Dortmund have rattled in 66 goals after Matchday 29 – more than Klopp’s Dortmund managed at the same point of their 2010/11 title-winning campaign (59) and the exact same as they had scored at the same stage of their 2011/12 repeat success.
Like any masterful coach, Terzic has proven to be both a motivator and a man who makes the right decisions at the right time. His idea of moving Raphaël Guerreiro into a midfield position in March yielded a stunning output of two goals and four assists in three matches. Terzic also persisted with selecting Donyell Malen despite a barren start to the season in front of goal for the Dutchman – until his form exploded into life in the middle of March, with six goals and three assists in five appearances since.
Quite simply for Terzic and Dortmund, everything is falling into place at the right time. The 2022/23 Bundesliga title now seems to be their destiny.