The intrigue in the Bundesliga continued until the last round, following the results which Borussia Dortmund, 11 years later, could again become the champion of Germany. And with a coach who at one time could be in the Moscow “Locomotive”. Instead, in front of a crowded stadium, the “bumblebees” disgraced themselves in a game with a completely unmotivated Mainz. How is this even possible?
It took them so long to reach their dreamBorussia fans last celebrated the championship in the 2011/12 season. This was the heyday of Jurgen Klopp, who took the second title in a row with the club. In that team, Robert Lewandowski, Shinji Kagawa, Ivan Perisic, Ilkay Gundogan, Mario Götze and future Spartak forward Lucas Barrios were on fire. Many of them are still superstars of world football, which once again speaks of the strength of Klopp's Borussia.
After that triumph, Dortmund began to slowly surrender, although they still took two German Cups and several Supercups. But the fans dreamed of the return of the title in the Bundesliga. Before each season, Borussia was neatly added to the list of favorites, but everyone understood that it was almost impossible to resist Bayern. So it was last summer, especially since one of the most promising coaches in the world, Julian Nagelsmann, worked with the Munich team.
“Borussia” before the start of the season strengthened the Ivorian Sebastien Aller, who was chasing half of the top European clubs. The striker scored a bunch of goals for Ajax, and he especially tried in the Champions League, where he even repeated the record of Cristiano Ronaldo. It seemed that Sebastien could become, if not a full-fledged, then a worthy replacement for Erling Haaland. However, just a month later it became known that Aller was diagnosed with cancer.
The football player admitted that despite the shocking news, he immediately decided to create a positive attitude and go through all the difficulties. And he did! Sebastien returned to action during the season and scored nine goals in 18 Bundesliga games, adding three more assists to this. His merit in the fact that “Borussia” for the round before the end of the championship caught up and overtook “Bavaria” is huge. Who would have thought that it was Aller who would eventually become one of the anti-heroes of the decisive match. But more on that later
Crazy denouement and tears of Dortmund fans Before the winter break, there was no need to talk about Dortmund's chances for the title. Munich carried their opponent as many as nine points, and Borussia was far from always the main pursuer of Bayern. At the beginning of the season, Union Berlin took the lead in the Bundesliga for six rounds.
Bayern themselves helped a lot to approach and even overtake themselves with their leadership, which fired Nagelsmann on March 24, putting Thomas Tuchel in the vacant seat. Under him, Munich, to put it mildly, did not play better. They flew out of the Champions League, ingloriously losing to Manchester City, and at the very end of the season they let Borussia go ahead in the national championship. And that wasn't much of a surprise.
And Dortmund was led to the title by a German of Croatian origin, Edin Terzic. He began his coaching career just at Borussia, working at the academy, and then for a long time was Slaven Bilić's assistant at Besiktas and West Ham. Terzic was supposed to move with Bilic to Russia and become one of the coaches of the Moscow “Locomotive”, but the deal fell through at the last moment. But Edin had the opportunity to return to Borussia, where he even managed to stay as technical director. After the resignation of Marko Rose Terzic was appointed head coach, signing a three-year contract with him. It could have been a beautiful success story.
Before the last round, the layouts were simple — a home victory over an unmotivated Mainz would give Dortmund the long-awaited championship. Which would be a first for Borussia legend Marco Reus. Surprisingly, the German striker has never won the Bundesliga in his entire career. He came to the club from Mönchengladbach just in the summer of 2012, when Borussia took their last German title to date. If Royce fails to win the Bundesliga, it will be the greatest injustice.
But poor Marco looks like he'll have to wait a little longer. “Borussia” in the final round missed the first in the 15th minute, but could soon recoup. A foul on Rafael Guerreiro was awarded a penalty. Aller approached the ball, but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Less than five minutes later, Mainz scored the second goal. The situation was becoming critical for Dortmund. Reus went to save the situation, replacing the injured Karim Adeyemi.
In the middle of the second half, Guerreiro played one ball, and in a parallel match, Cologne unexpectedly equalized the score in the match with Bayern. A draw in that meeting made Borussia the champion, but in the end the Bayern still snatched the victory. And Terzic's wards were able to score the second goal, but it was not enough for the final success. The fans were shocked, it was a crazy and at the same time mediocre final of the season, which should have ended with the championship.