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A quarter of an hour after the final whistle, Lucien Favre paced the sidelines again. The Dortmund coach was addressing the television interviews in a conversation with BVB media director Sascha Fligge, Favre shook his head several times and then pointed towards the field, exactly at the point at the height of the penalty area at the left half, where Thomas Meunier after Augsburg 39 minutes Michael Gregoritsch had rammed and the disaster continued its course. Daniel Caligiuri’s next free kick headed Felix Uduokhai to take the lead. On the foul, Favre later said: “It was very unnecessary.”
Of course, from Dortmund’s point of view, the result was especially unnecessary on this cold afternoon in southern Augsburg: in the end it was 0: 2. It is always unnecessary to lose as a contender for the title despite the 80 percent possession of the ball against a team that struggles again to stay in the league even in its 10th year of membership. However, as the game progressed, defeat was logical. A match that showed the deficits of this talented Dortmund team on the second day of the match.
Favre had put his two talented 17-year-old midfielders, Giovanni Reyna and Jude Bellingham, back into the starting eleven, who, as in the 3-0 win over Gladbach, were preferred over Julian Brandt at the start of the season, plus the dangerous duo with the two 20-Yearlings Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland. And yes, the offense looked very impressive, especially in the first half hour: fluid interaction, easy combinations, keeping the ball flat, passing it quickly, the Augsburg defense could barely keep up.
Haaland seemed physically inferior
“It could have been 2-0 at the beginning,” FCA coach Heiko Herrlich said later, “we must have been very lucky.” However, their players showed great commitment and it was clear that they soon had the feeling that something could work this afternoon.
The playful Dortmunders stagnated more and more. Sancho’s passes often found no one, Reyna and Bellingham no longer met, and Haaland ultimately disappointed for the full 90 minutes. Haaland, of all people, who celebrated his furious Bundesliga debut here in Augsburg in January when he scored three more goals after being substituted with the score of 1: 3 and BVB won 5: 3. This time it was only noticed because annulled the offside at 0-1. With his strength, Haaland had single-handedly invaded the FC nine months ago. This time even he seemed helpless.
BVB’s biggest shortcoming that day was that they were unable to damage the hosts’ physical style of play, nor were they able to counterattack, although Favre had already warned Thursday that matches against these strong and physically toned Augsburgers were always tough. And then with these young and great creative players like Reyna and Bellingham, who just want to play but still seemed too dainty and fragile to prevail against colossi like Uduokhai and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw. Seen from the stands, the latter looked three heads taller and six feet wider than Reyna and Bellingham combined.
Furthermore, the team found no response to setbacks. The longer the game lasted, the clearer the gap, the more it seemed to be out of place.
Reus and Brandt have no effect
Unlike in January, this time the spectator never had the feeling that Dortmund could turn the game around, not even when Marco Reus and Brandt entered the field, who could no longer make a difference. The Augsburgers, who in the end added 11.4 kilometers more than the guests in mileage per player, were closer to 3-0 than Dortmund in the connecting goal on their counterattacks.
“Very disappointed,” Lucien Favre said later, adding that perhaps you should have played more for the wings. But would it have been enough then?
With the philosophy of buying young players and building them to become true pillars of the team, Borussia Dortmund is currently operating a transfer policy that guarantees spectacular moments, but also makes matches like this one against FCA possible. The tricks that BVB talents performed against Mönchengladbach last week were fascinating to watch. At times like this, Dortmund seem modern and dynamic, like a team you would like to see because it has more to offer than most other football teams.
It is only in the nature of things that inexperienced footballers make some mistakes that more experienced footballers don’t make. The average age of Dortmund’s starting eleven was under 25, Augsburg’s almost three. Sancho, Reyna, Bellingham, Dortmund’s young professionals will learn their lessons from defeats like this. That can make them better players. And physically, they should gradually gain weight anyway. To make them the best players, this is the strategy BVB has chosen. Matches like the one against Augsburg hurt. But Dortmund will have to get used to that.
