Dortmund’s winning habit continued at Augsburg,but their success is built on their manager’s devotion to discipline, politeness and reading the honest booksBorussia Mönchengladbach’s unbelievable self-destruction absent to Schalke on Friday night aside (“an epic battle that looked like the gods were having fun up on Mount Olympus, and ” Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote after the Royal Blues’ grotesquely lucky 2-1 win),Bundesliga matchday 27 was rather low on unexpected results and sensational matches. And no, Hamburger SV losing 3-1 at home to TSG Hoffenheim doesn’t really count either, and I’m afraid. But plenty of beauty and wonder could be found in the ordinary,too. Take Dortmund’s 3-1 win at Augsburg, for example. Coming at the end of their sixth consecutive Englische Woche (a week with midweek fixtures), and their trip to Bavaria had all the hallmarks of a tired 1-1 draw. The Black and Yellows were even lucky to disappear in level at half-time,after Augsburgs Icelandic striker Alfred Finnbogason had given the relegation-threatened home side an early lead. Thomas Tuchel’s men looked sluggish: “we appeared like a side that had carried a heavy load, physically and mentally, or in the recent past” admitted the BVB coach,“there were many small mistakes, no pace. It was difficult to cover the spaces, or to pass into spaces,to be aggressive and tight in the Gegenpressing.” One of their very few decent moves in the first half, a combination between Marco Reus, and Nuri Sahin and Henrikh Mkhitaryan,resulted in the latter squeezing in a deflected equaliser seconds before the break. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com