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Inconsistent Borussia Dortmund to Pick Up Momentum in Cup Tilt with Union Berlin
- Updated: October 25, 2016
There is no way around it. At the moment, Borussia Dortmund are stumbling through the 2016/17 season.
Having won only one of their last five matches across all competitions and sitting sixth in the Bundesliga table after Matchday 8, their lack of consistency has showed up time and time again.
Since beating SC Freiburg on September 23 to cap off a four-game winning streak in which they outscored opponents by 20 goals to two in a span of 10 days, there seems to be a spanner in the works for the Black and Yellows.
Interestingly, that is especially true for their domestic games. In the UEFA Champions League, a 2-2 draw with holders Real Madrid and a crucial 2-1 win at Sporting CP have seen the Ruhr side well on track to advance to the round of 16 after just three rounds of matches.
In the Bundesliga, however, a record of two points from three matches is simply not enough, even for a Dortmund side that many predicted would have a slow start to the campaign. A wholeheartedly disappointing 2-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen, a 1-1 draw with Hertha BSC and a dramatic 3-3 draw at FC Ingolstadt were not acceptable.
Of course, there were mitigating circumstances—first and foremost the club’s dire personnel situation. Up to 10 players were out over the last few weeks, and key performers such as club captain Marcel Schmelzer, midfielder Raphael Guerreiro and attackers Marco Reus and Andre Schurrle remain out for the time being.
However, Dortmund still have too much quality to be satisfied with their recent run of results. Perhaps not enough to win at Leverkusen, who had a strong day, but certainly enough to beat a last-placed Ingolstadt side that had lost six straight games in the German top flight.
Fans had circled that match as an opportunity to pick up some steam ahead of a number of crucial games, with the Revierderby against archrivals Schalke 04 lurking at the weekend, and the return leg against Sporting and a meeting with bogey team Hamburger SV on the horizon.
Luckily for Dortmund supporters and their team, Wednesday should provide another such opportunity. 2. Bundesliga side Union Berlin come to town for the second round of the DFB-Pokal. Make no mistake about it, there will be no excuses if the Black and Yellows do not come away with a resounding victory.
Six wins in seven see Iron Union—as fans lovingly call their team—in decent form. The club from the capital are second in the table with 20 points from 10 matches. The club are marketing the game as one of the biggest away trips in the team’s history, with about 10,000 fans travelling to the Westfalenstadion, per the club’s website (link in German).
Still, though, head coach Jens Keller does not harbour …
