The Weekly Take, Issue 57: Living Rent-Free in Their Heads

As I write this post, I as a Borussia Dortmund fan have a sense of déjà vu in the worst way possible.

In one of last season’s matchups between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, Bayern took Dortmund apart, winning a dominant 6-0 victory in Der Klassiker.

Around a year later, the two rivals met again, but this time the stakes were even higher. Dortmund and Bayern were ranked first and second in the Bundesliga heading into the match. The winner would be likely to claim this season’s league title.

What was expected to have been one of the most pulsating, hotly-contested matches of the season, however, ended up becoming an extremely one-sided affair - once again in Bayern’s favour. The Bavarians destroyed the Ruhr team, winning 5-0.

It was never even close. Bayern were in full control right from the opening whistle, and the scoreline could easily have been even more one-sided than it was. What made it even worse for Die Schwarzgelben was the fact that former Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski scored two of Bayern’s five goals. Lewandowski’s first goal was also the 200th Bundesliga goal of his legendary career.

This match also made one thing extremely clear: Dortmund have a tremendous mental block when playing against Bayern. Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Bayern and Dortmund have played against each other 20 times. Over these 20 clashes, Bayern have won 12 and scored 42 goals; Dortmund, just five with 20 goals scored.

Dortmund have developed a reputation for being mentally weak, especially following the departure of former head coach Jürgen Klopp. They have lost three DFB-Pokal finals, are on pace to have their sixth top-four league finish in seven years during which they have not won the title, and have been knocked out of the Champions League by teams which they should have beaten, such as Monaco and Tottenham. They even lost a Europa League tie against Red Bull Salzburg in 2018.

This team is nowhere near the level of the Klopp-coached team that took European football by storm in the early 2010s.

In 2011, Dortmund won the Bundesliga title for the first time in nine years. The next year, Dortmund won a league and cup Double. That team contained players such as Lewandowski, team captain Sebastian Kehl, Neven Subotić, Shinji Kagawa, Kuba Błaszczykowski, Mats Hummels, and İlkay Gündoğan. This was a team loaded with talent, cohesion, fearlessness, leadership, and mental toughness. Supplemented by Klopp’s outstanding coaching and tactical genius, Dortmund went on a tear, winning game after game in unconventional yet effective ways and putting the world of football on notice. They not only won two Bundesliga titles and a DFB-Pokal, but also many new fans (myself included) in the process.

Fast-forward to the present and one will see that Dortmund’s best players include Axel Witsel, Jadon Sancho, Paco Alcácer, Achraf Hakimi, and the departing Christian Pulisic. Apart from the fact that their general skill level is lower than that of the 2010-12 team, the current team also seems to play with a level of fear and inhibition that the team from back then never did. This is especially true when they play against Bayern.

This team completely lacks a winning mentality against Bayern. In this week’s match, Dortmund were clearly ill-suited for the occasion. Even their best players played well below their usual standards. It makes one wonder if they actually believe they can win the league title.

Last week, I wrote about Tottenham’s mental fragility. Much of what I said about Spurs also applies to Dortmund. However, unlike Tottenham, Dortmund do have a history of success, making their recent inability to close the deal all the more galling.

This team needs two things. One is a clear team identity. Although Dortmund have some excellent players on the team, their lack of an overarching identity hinders their level of play. The second is better coaching. Although Lucien Favre is certainly a good coach, I don’t believe he is one who can restore Dortmund to its former glory.

However, until both of these are fulfilled, Borussia Dortmund are likely to experience even more near-misses, especially against the team who have tormented them for most of the last half-decade.