First defeat since Barcelona – BVB out of Club World Cup | OneFootball

From Dortmund’s perspective, a game that had been disappointing for a long time ended in dramatic fashion. BVB fought their way back to 2-1 and 3-2 in nine minutes of stoppage time, threatening to upset the previously dominant favourites. And then there was that one last attack that almost turned the game on its head and would have sent Borussia into extra time. And that would have been with an extra man on the pitch after Dean Huijsen was shown a red card in the 96th minute…

Ramy Bensebaini switches the play from the left to Yan Couto on the right. The clock shows 98:46. The ball is crossed towards the penalty spot. Maxi Beier and Serhou Guirassy, who are positioned there, can’t quite reach it, but Marcel Sabitzer, lurking to their left, does. He lets the ball drop from his chest onto his instep, turns and shoots on the volley – flat, hard and into the left corner. But Thibaut Courtois, the 200-centimetre-tall Belgian in the Spanish goal, dives for the ball and saves it. Immediately afterwards, the excellent Brazilian referee Ramon Abatti blows his whistle. “An outstanding effort. Unfortunately, Courtois' save was even more outstanding,” said World Cup winner Sami Khedira, co-commentator for DAZN.

The football world held its breath at this moment. “From about the 85th minute onwards it turned into another crazy story,” summarised Niko Kovac at the press conference, adding: “Compliments for the save. Not many goalkeepers in the world would have kept that ball out. If we had scored at the end, it would certainly have been undeserved.”

Real Madrid had the game under control for what felt like 85 minutes, even though Borussia Dortmund actually had more possession. “We were too passive in the first half,” said Kovac: “The problem was that we didn’t take on the challenges, that we were too slow against and with the ball. When we had the ball, we didn’t manage to move our opponents in such a way as to cause them problems.” Captain Julian Brandt admitted: “We played very slow, very ponderous football in the first half and conceded two goals. After that, we were chasing the game.”

After just 20 minutes, the Spanish side were up 2-0 and were carving out further good chances due to lackadaisical coordination in defence and poor marking in the area. This was also true for Kylian Mbappé’s goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time, after Maximilian Beier had taken advantage of BVB’s second clear-cut chance to bring the score to 2-1 just 120 seconds earlier. But what happened next showed once again that anything is possible in football if you believe in yourself – and if your opponent doesn’t have Thibaut Courtois in goal. “We showed morale,” said Brandt, asking rhetorically: “Who knows what would have happened if we’d managed to do that earlier?”

Almost immediately after Mbappé’s goal, Carney Chukwuemeka set up Serhou Guirassy, who broke through, was felled in the penalty area and converted the resulting penalty to make it 3-2 (90+8). And there were still 84 seconds left to play. 84 seconds in which Marcel Sabitzer almost scored the equaliser. “Anyone who saves a shot like that is a world-class goalkeeper,” said Niko Kovac about Courtois, adding in the same breath his assessment of the entire 99 minutes: “It wouldn’t have been entirely fair if we had turned it around. If you look at the first half, Real were much better. We were too passive, too self-destructive and didn’t win the challenges.”

It was this period of time added on that will leave the losers with a positive feeling in retrospect. With three wins, one draw (against semi-finalists Fluminense) and the defeat against Madrid, the Black & Yellows made the trip back to Germany from the Club World Cup early on Sunday afternoon. “We can leave America with our heads held high. We represented BVB and Germany with dignity,” said Kovac before departure, going on to add: “It’s no failure to go home after a game against Real Madrid.”

Managing director Lars Ricken was similarly positive after the game: “We are among the top eight in the European rankings, we reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and are now among the best eight in the world. That’s something to be proud of. We have represented BVB, the city of Dortmund and the Bundesliga with pride. I hope that the time in the USA has brought our team closer together. The players will now get a few weeks’ holiday.” On 26 July, in three weeks’ time, preparations for the coming season will begin. “And then,” said Ricken, “we’ll all start again together. That’s an advantage over previous years.”

Kovac can build on a solid foundation. The 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid on 5 July was the first loss since 9 April, when they were beaten by Barcelona in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. In the 11 games between the defeats to the two Spanish titans, there have been nine wins and two draws.. “We have developed well during the time we have worked together,” summed up the head coach, hoping that the experience gained in the USA, the 23 days spent together, “will make us stronger as a unit and enable us to continue on our path in the new season.”Boris Rupert