Kobel's issues appeal to teammates, while Kovac looks ahead | OneFootball

Kobel's issues appeal to teammates, while Kovac looks ahead | OneFootball

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Icon: Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund

·24 août 2025

Kobel's issues appeal to teammates, while Kovac looks ahead

Image de l'article :Kobel's issues appeal to teammates, while Kovac looks ahead

There was a lot of frustration after the 3-3 draw at FC St. Pauli. No one disputed the penalty decision or the sending-off. The Borussia players looked for the fault within themselves. Although they only looked convincing in fits and starts, they were 3-1 up at the Millerntor going into the closing stages of the match. Then came the penalty and, in its wake, an inexplicable passivity that the hosts exploited to earn a well-deserved 3-3 draw.

“We experienced exactly what I mentioned to the team beforehand: it’s going to be tough, the fans will be behind their team. We have to work very hard physically to get something out of it,” emphasised Niko Kovac at his press conference, then going on to add: “We didn't really manage to do that. We didn’t play the game I wanted us to play. We played too slowly and barely got in behind.”


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Image de l'article :Kobel's issues appeal to teammates, while Kovac looks ahead

Niko Kovac schaut nachdenklich von der Trainerbank aufs Spielfeld.

There were moments when BVB showed how a deep-lying, hard-tackling opposition – which certainly applies to St. Pauli as well as upcoming opponents Union Berlin – can be overcome. For example, Bellingham showed great awareness when he collected a ball cleared from his own penalty area, turned and quickly played the ball forward to Guirassy, who then slipped a through ball to Adeyemi to take the entire opposition defence out of the game. The result was a penalty, which Guirassy then missed. Or the moment on the left wing, when Gross and Svensson beat three Hamburg players with a quick exchange of passes, Nmecha let the cross bounce off Anton and the defensive leader scored to make it 2-1. Or Pascal Gross's pinpoint lofted pass from his own half to pick out Julian Brandt near the edge of the box, with the playmaker then giving a display of his outstanding individual class to bring the score to 3-1.

Image de l'article :Kobel's issues appeal to teammates, while Kovac looks ahead

Führungsspieler im Gespräch: Gregor Kobel und Pascal Groß

“It hurts today – but tomorrow we move on,” said Gregor Kobel before the long bus journey back to Dortmund: “There are 34 games to go, now there are 33. It’s a long way to go. Now it’s just a matter of working full throttle to get back to what makes us a strong team.” The keeper went into detail, talking about “intensity, willpower, grit” and “the stuff that made us so strong last season. We were tough in the tackles. We have to pick up where we left off.” He was surprised that these virtues only showed up on occasion at the Millerntor: “I thought we played very well in pre-season. The game against Lille was great, with its extreme intensity.”

The team won’t be able to make up for the points dropped at the Millerntor on Sunday (kick-off 17:30 CEST) in their sold-out home game against 1. FC Union Berlin, but they can lay the foundations for the rest of the season.Boris Rupert

Image de l'article :Kobel's issues appeal to teammates, while Kovac looks ahead
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