Berlin: Champions League dreams have been spoiled for Borussia Dortmund after the 2-1 defeat on aggregate following a 2-0 loss in the second leg of the last-16 round against Premier League side Chelsea.
The painful exit nevertheless is opening doors to entirely concentrate on the national league as the chance is emerging to win the first Championship since 2012 for the Black and Yellows, reports Xinhua news agency.
For the moment the prospect of possibly lifting the so-called bowl of the Bundesliga might be a poor consolation, but the past weeks gave proof of Dortmund’s development.
Other than facing a well-equipped Blues team, the 2021 German Cup winner might do better without the currently injured Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt.
The loss of both pacy strikers able to invade deep spaces at high speed, might have made the difference at Stamford Bridge.
The first defeat after 11 victories in 2023 might be a setback on the international stage and stand for the fact that Dortmund’s international options are limited.
What remains is a team known as a side delivering too many ups and downs in their performance has gained stability.
While struggling Chelsea used its last chance to keep one of its season goals alive after having invested a reported 330 million euros in the winter break, Borussia is now forced to create new motivation by setting new goals such as the German title and the German Cup.
The early injury of Brandt torpedoed the German’s intention to annoy their opponent by carrying out counterattacks.
The 26-year-old German international turned into a game-changing figure over the past weeks, but Dortmund’s squad is far from big enough to replace the highflyer.
While second keeper Alex Meyer turned into a reliable replacement for BVB’s number one, Gregor Kobel, things didn’t develop in favor of Dortmund.
The Black and Yellows partly blamed the Dutch referee Danny Makkelie for deciding a disputed penalty and allowing Chelsea to enjoy a second attempt. Dortmund coach Edin Terzic spoke about an extremely hard decision.
It might be Terzic’s most pressing challenge to express new goals now and get to his player’s minds with that important message. “We did two games on eye level,” Terzic said.
The past weeks showed a Dortmund team having gained mental and physical stability that opens doors for success.
After a bumpy first half of the season, Terzic’s team learned that hard work can lead to glory. There seems no reason to forget about that.
–IANS