Bundesliga
Another turnaround: BVB coach Terzic collects plus points
A win against VfB Stuttgart could further strengthen the position of BVB coach Edin Terzic. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
Shortly before the winter break, his coaching chair was wobbling worryingly. Edin Terzic has now appeased his critics – not for the first time. BVB’s coup in Munich strengthens its position.
Edin Terzic goes along relaxed, in a good mood and full of confidence Borussia Dortmund’s team enters the exciting and decisive weeks of the football season. Just a week after the statement victory over FC Bayern (2-0), BVB faces the next difficult test.
Another win on Saturday (6:30 p.m./Sky) over VfB Stuttgart, their four points better in the table, could not only further improve the starting position of the fourth-placed team in the Bundesliga in the fight for Champions League qualification, but also the position of the coach. “Of course we want to gain self-confidence from the game against Bayern, but we also want to have a lot of greed and hunger,” said the BVB coach, who answered many questions with a broad grin.
Terzic maintains his reputation as a stand-up man. As in the previous season, the football teacher, who was threatened with expulsion, managed to stabilize his team after a failed first half of the season. The recent coup at FC Bayern confirmed the positive trend. After the first Bundesliga success in Munich in ten years, sports director Sebastian Kehl not only praised the professionals: “We are extremely proud of the team and the coaching team. The three points were not planned.”
Remarkable BVB balance sheet
The coach no longer has to fear a scenario like in the days before the winter break, when the club’s top management discussed a separation from Terzic in their regular meeting. He used the success in Munich to criticize the media: “We came here as league leaders twelve months ago and have lost five Bundesliga games since then. And yet we often have the feeling that we have only won five games during this time.” With a complaining undertone, the coach added: “It’s pretty difficult for you, I have to say that quite honestly.”
The latest balance sheet is impressive. In the table after the winter break, BVB is in second place behind almost champions Leverkusen (31) with 26 points – three points ahead of their next opponent Stuttgart and even seven points ahead of Bayern. Most recently, they have won five competitive games in a row and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. “Somehow it makes you a bit angry when you see what would have been possible if we had shown the face we showed in Munich and in the Champions League more often,” said Terzic.
The Dortmund team is heading into the difficult month of April with confidence, in which BVB has, in addition to the duel with VfB, further Bundesliga top games against Leverkusen and Leipzig as well as the two quarter-final games in the European premier class against Atlético Madrid. “April will be one of the hardest months of my career. We’re looking forward to it and can make sure that it’s a great month,” said veteran Mats Hummels.
Hoping for a win against Stuttgart
Terzic hopes that the well-deserved victory over Bayern will give his professionals further momentum: “We know that exciting weeks await us and that the opponents will demand everything from us in the next games. But we now also have opportunities to do this “To show our face and then achieve our goals at the end of the season,” said the Dortmund coach. However, if his team collapses and misses qualification for the Champions League, his job would be at great risk again.
With a win against Stuttgart, third place would even come close again. But Terzic knows about the Swabians’ strengths, which will also be required in the final spurt of the season. “They have exciting weeks ahead of them with difficult games. And we want to give them the toughest game of the season here in Dortmund,” said the BVB coach.
It’s not just further successes that could make Terzic’s job a little safer. Sven Mislintat, a confidant of the coach, is about to return to BVB. According to reports, the club’s top management and the former BVB talent scout (2006 to 2017) are almost in agreement. Regardless of the role in which the former sports director of VfB Stuttgart and former technical director at Ajax Amsterdam will work at BVB, Terzic would have one more supporter in the current internal club scheming over the successor to the soon-to-be-departing club boss Hans-Joachim Watzke.