Football Bundesliga in the stern check: BVB is a symbol for the sporting decline of the Bundesliga

Bundesliga star check
And BVB makes a fool of itself every day… Dortmund’s dropouts show the sporting decline of the entire league

by Tim Schulze
2/7/2022 7:48 am

That’s how the game day went

You can find all the results of the 21st match day, the table and the statistics here star-Ticker.

Game day excitement

It was a rather quiet game day. Hardly any wrong decisions, little trouble or wild discussions on the pitch. The long, rainy winter, the miserable pandemic and the dominance of Bayern – all of this is apparently also having an impact on the Bundesliga. The events seemed kind of bland. Only Freiburg coach Christian Streich was a little under steam. His team lost 1-0 to 1. FC Köln. Roland Sallei’s equalizer was disallowed for offside by Nico Schlotterbeck. The Freiburg defender did not intervene in the action, but was in the middle of the line of fire and theoretically obstructed the view of Cologne keeper Marvin Schwäbe. Passive offside became active, and referee Felix Brych did not give the goal according to the video images. The people of Freiburg, especially Streich, got a little upset about this. And they were right. There was no way Schwäbe would have saved the shot, everyone could see that, but that’s how the rules are. Schlotterbeck danced right in front of the goalkeeper. There are these gray areas where the set of rules fails in reality. It’s similar with the infamous foot contact that leads to the penalty kick, although everyone can see that the ridiculous touch doesn’t bring down a player. In addition, Streich engaged in intimate discussions with Cologne’s Jonas Hector during and after the game. We do not know, why. But that was it with the excitement. Not much has happened in that regard.

Matchday Winner

Bayer Leverkusen really deserved the award. Beat Borussia 5-2 in Dortmund, played wonderful counter-football and increased the gap to fourth-placed Union Berlin to four points. The Leverkusen unpacked the whole attacking arsenal: pressing, counterattacks, standards. Bayer stays on course for the Champions League with this win. If this talented team hadn’t been taking time off from time to time, things would be much better off.

Game day loser

Let’s turn to BVB, which is probably the most frequently dealt with in the Buli-Check. But there is no other team in the Bundesliga that wanders so intensively between heaven and hell. The defeat made it clear once again: the team lacks consistency, the black and yellow are a fragile entity, and under coach Marco Rose the old Dortmund illness seems to have gotten worse. Rose looked battered after the game because he couldn’t seem to find a way to get the extremely fluctuating performance under control: “We never felt like we were in the game. Whenever it was our turn, the plug was pulled,” he said resignedly . The defeat undoubtedly hurt BVB. The consequences for the Bundesliga are even worse. Bayern are nine points behind in the table. For a long time it seemed as if BVB would at least keep up a bit of pressure on Bayern in the league, but there can be no question of that anymore. The truth is: Like the entire Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund stands for mediocrity and boredom (except for Bayern, of course). The fact that BVB has occasionally hinted at its potential doesn’t change that. What’s the point if he doesn’t call it up continuously over a longer period of time and the title fight hasn’t taken place for years. Not to mention other teams (RB Leipzig, VfL Wolfsburg, Borussia Mönchenglabach). And just take a look at the composition of the cup quarter-finals – it can no longer be denied: the Bundesliga is in sporting decline.

You have to see this goal (again).

Now we’re back in the Müngersdorfer Stadion, as the Cologne Arena is actually called, where Anthony Modeste completed a technically adept counterattack. The goal was prepared by strike partner Jan Thielmann, who very tricky put a long ball from his own defense past Nico Schlotterbek with a touch. This action alone was outstanding. Thielmann passed on to Modeste, who flicked the ball perfectly into the far corner.

image of the day

He looks a little battered: Manuel Neuer surprisingly went under the knife the day after beating RB Leipzig. “Everything went great, so I can start the rehabilitation training in a timely manner,” wrote the 35-year-old on Instagram. The national goalkeeper underwent surgery on his right knee and will be absent from Bayern for weeks. The club did not provide any further details. As always, he will be replaced by substitute goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, who is a solid keeper, but of course not as good as Neuer.