News outlets across the world have picked up on BVB’s emphatic Bundesliga opener last weekend.
The side looks overhauled and poised for bigger challenges. But are fans and writers getting ahead of themselves? What are the actual chances of a repeat performance away in Ingolstadt?
Let’s put it this way: You will not be able to make a fortune by betting on a Dortmund win this weekend. Bookmakers will have this one down as an easy win for the Westfalen, who outclass newly-promoted side FC Ingolstadt 04 in all areas on the park. That is purely on paper, however, and for all the spirit of optimism surrounding Dortmund at present, it is easy to find arguments as for why the second matchday could become a bigger mountain to climb than Moenchengladbach was last week.
Ingolstadt
The first item in the discussion of calculable perils for matchday two has to be Ingolstadt itself. Not because to shun Ralph Hasenhuettl’s side would be disrespectful but simply by reason of what they did to Mainz last Saturday. Ingolstadt, in their first crack at top division football in Germany, comfortably beat the established Bundesliga side away from home 1-0.
They were delighted after, and rightly so, wildly celebrating their first three points of the season on the Mainz lawn. The unexpected win will have taken them by surprise at first, but once sunken in quickly converted into the defiant belief that anything is possible for the underdogs from Southern Germay. Facing Borussia Dortmund can hardly be compared to Mainz 05, but mind you, bringing home the spoils from their first Bundesliga away win will encourage the home crowd to scream their lungs out for Ingolstadt. Those two factors combined amount to a gritty task for BVB, something they have not been asked to overcome thus far in the early season.
Europa League week
To complicate matters, it is one of those weeks where Thomas Tuchel’s side has to abandon its training routine for a midweek encounter somewhere in a less prominent part of Europe. It is the last round of Europa League qualifiers for BVB, this time against Odd Grenland of Norway. The heightened physical strain of playing two encounters a week is nothing the Dortmund players are not accustomed to. Nevertheless it comes at a disruptive time, right between the first and second matchday when the team is anxious to find and, more importantly, conserve their rhythm and tactics for the domestic league.
Add the potential dangers of competing on a synthetic turf (Odd Grenland’s home arena) for the players and it is not a stretch to assert that BVB probably would rather not have this date on their calendars for this week. The Black and Yellows are going to return from Norway on Friday, presumably travel down to Ingolstadt on Saturday and then kick off the encounter on Sunday. Tuchel can only try to make the best of the situation as it is, but it can be assumed that a smoother preparation for the Ingolstadt test could have spared him one or two headaches.
Injuries
Speaking of the possibility of picking up new injuries during the week, aside from the brigade of long-term absentees around Nuri Sahin and co., it appears that right-back Lukasz Piszczek took a whack in training and will be ruled out for an indefinite time. Go-to replacement Erik Durm too has not yet returned to full training, calling for Tuchel to find a feasible solution before long. There is also the dubious case of Marco Reus, who stayed behind in Dortmund due to some after effects of the Gladbach encounter. Tuchel has stressed that it is a preventive break rather than for reasons of injury but that does not automatically guarantee he will be included in the squad on Sunday either. Reus is known to be an injury prone player that requires careful looking after. With Tuchel and his entourage of physios arriving, it seems they are determined to finally stabilise the Germany international’s health, even if that is at the expense of the occasional match.
These are just a few of the hurdles Dortmund will have to jump on Sunday if they want to prove beyond any doubt that dismantling Gladbach 4-0 was not coincidental. On the face of it, Dortmund have the players and strength to cruise past the Bavarians. Moreover, the confidence has returned, which not only translates into the players finally living up to the expectations (case in point is Henrikh Mkhitaryan) but also resounds in Dortmund boss Hans-Joachim Watzke’s latest statement, in which he fired some shots against the competitors and closed with a gleeful “Dortmund are not back because [they] have never been gone” remark. If the team wants to back up that theory, they are going to have to put in a strong shift on Sunday.
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