Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Marco Reus bemoans Dortmund's lack of concentration against Man City
A lack of concentration cost Borussia Dortmund a deserved draw, says captain and goalscorer Marco Reus. Dortmund take a vital away goal back to Germany for next week's second leg — but it could have been even better.
Manchester City 2-1 Borussia Dortmund, EtihadStadium (De Bruyne 19’, Foden 90’ – Reus 84’)
It was difficult for Marco Reus to hide his frustration at fulltime. Moments after he and Erling Haaland combined to grab a priceless away goal and a draw at Manchester City, they threw it away. Dortmund switched off and, just like that, their hopes of an impressive result were dashed.
“It was so unnecessary,” Reus told broadcaster DAZN. “We weren’t concentrating for two seconds and they scored. If we stop the cross then it doesn’t happen. It’s a shame we didn’t reward ourselves for the fight we showed tonight.”
Dortmund rolled up their sleeves for this one, playing like a team keen to remind themselves more than anyone else exactly what they’re capable of. Bellingham was superb, Haaland was industrious and Reus was ice cold when his moment came. But as Dortmund showed last weekend when they stumbled to a home defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt, they’re a team who are frustratingly inconsistent.
“We’ve been talking about consistency for a year,” Reus added. “We’ve had too few games like tonight where we’ve showed our level.”
Abysmal refereeing
Despite the defeat, Dortmund would have taken 2-1 and that potentially pivotal away goal at the start of the game. A 1-0 victory back in Dortmund next week would do it for them.
Dortmund fell behind in a fashion all too familiar to them this season. A slack pass by Emre Can allowed City in, and the rest was almost a formality. The impressive Riyad Mahrez with the touch and pass, the irrepressible Kevin de Bruyne with the finish from close range.
However, Dortmund were on the receiving end of some
abysmal refereeing decisions, which had threatened to drag Dortmund down. The first was a penalty call against Emre Can, who didn’t make contact with Rodri, the second was a goal disallowed by the excellent Jude Bellingham. The reason given was a foul by the English 17-yearold – but it was a foul invisible to everyone except the Romanian referee.
City’s failure to double their advantage it two was less about Dortmund and more about the wayward finishing of Phil Foden. The Manchester City teenager was unable to convert the two clear chances that had been crafted for him.
Dortmund ‘annoy’ City
That left the door open ajar for Dortmund, who were muchimproved after the break. They were getting Haaland into the game with increasing frequency and showing a willingness to pour forward in numbers when in possession. The game was open, absorbing and just the feast of attacking football that had been on the cards.
Time seemed to be running out for Dortmund, but they struck in the 84th minute. Bellingham’s strong run and pass found Haaland, whose deft throughball was brought down by Reus, and the veteran kept his cool to slot the ball past Ederson.
His goal, nine years on from his last goal at the Etihad, saw him overtake Robert Lewandowski as Dortmund’s all-time top Champions League marksman.
That should have been the moment Dortmund shut up shop for the final five minutes, but they couldn’t see it out. De Bruyne was given space to pick out former Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, who teed up Foden to tuck into the bottom corner just as the clock struck 90. There was little in the way of celebration for Foden, whose winner atoned for his earlier misses.
Dortmund should have closed it out, but with the second leg coming up next Wednesday, they will know that this race still has a long way left to run. As Dortmund coach Edin Terzic put it, “we showed that we can annoy them”.
A statement from the Polish football association said that treatment for the ligament injury can last five to ten days, meaning that the 32-year-old Bundesliga top scorer could be a doubt for Bayern's top-of-the-table clash against RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Bayern & Hoffenheim reaction to fan protests was 'planned'
A television documentary has revealed that Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim bosses were aware of planned fan protests ahead of a game between the two clubs last year, and that the reactions to protests and insults from Bayern supporters were at least partly "planned."
In February 2020, the Bundesliga game between Bayern and Hoffenheim ended in farcical scenes when the players were ordered to leave the pitch and then play out the final stages in a state of truce after Bayern fans had directed insulting banners at Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp.
As DW reported at the time, Hopp is an unpopular figure among some German fans after bankrolling Hoffenheim's risen through the leagues, obtaining an exemption from the 50+1 ownership rule and pursuing fans in the courts with unorthodox means, while the protests were also linked to a longer-running conflict involving socalled collective punishments.
Now, a documentary shown on public broadcaster ZDF this weekend has revealed that the unprecedented reactions of the players and officials were not the spontaneous show of solidarity they first appeared, with then Bayern president Uli Hoeness admitting that the clubs knew of the planned fan protests in advance.
Furthermore, former DFB president Reinhard Grindel says in the documentary that DFB vice- president Rainer Koch wanted to deploy undercover operatives in fan blocks in order to identify individuals and "destroy the ultra scene." Koch denies this was the case.
Watzke to continue until 2025
Borussia Dortmund have announced that chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has extended his contract and will remain in charge of the Bundesliga club until 2025.
Financial director Thomas Tress and marketing director Carsten Cramer have also extended their contracts as Dortmund look to ensure "continuity in personnel" in an unprecedented situation.
"Despite the dramatically different landscape caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying consequences in terms of revenues, the board has successfully managed to keep the ship on course in stormy waters," read a cub statement.
Going into further detail on club finances, the statement also confirmed: "Even against the backdrop of the pandemic, nobody need worry about Borussia Dortmund's future. Regardless of qualification for the Champions League, the next two seasons are financially accounted for."
overrun the continent, then they accuse you of being a racist."
Comments ' incompatible with the values of Hertha BSC'
On Tuesday, Hertha announced that, after intense investigation, they would be parting company with Petry, who has been at the club since 2015.
"We have always greatly appreciated Zsolt Petry's work at Hertha BSC, and we have always found him to be open, tolerant and helpful. At no point has he ever acted in a homophobic or xenophobic manner," Hertha CEO Carsten Schmidt said in a statement.
"But we have determined that the comments made are not compatible with the values of
Hertha BSC."
In the same statement, Petry insisted that he is "neither homophobic nor xenophobic" but accepted the decision.
"I regret my comments on immigration policy and would like to apologize to all those who seek refuge here and who I have offended," Petry said.
The LGBTQ+ football fan network Queer Football Fanclubs (QFF) welcomed Hertha's decision as a "good and correct step."
Marc Schwitzky, the founder of the popular Hertha supporter website Hertha Base, opined on Twitter that Petry's comments were "incompatible with the values of Hertha BSC."
mf/mm (dpa)
the pitch. The club said this was after a request to do so by Diakhaby himself.
"The team have held a meeting and decided to continue the game, in order to fight for the honor of the club, but denounce racism of any kind," Valencia said in its Twitter account in English.
"The player, who had received a racial insult, requested that his teammates return to the pitch."
However, AFP journalist Tom Allnutt quoted Valencia coach Javi Gracia as saying Diakhaby had merely said he "understood" that the match should go on.
"We spoke with Diakha, about how he was, and he told us he wouldn't play but he understood perfectly we had to continue to avoid a possible sanction," said the quote. "So we returned." Both sides stand by players Valencia captain Jose Luis Gaya said Diakhaby was "devastated" and that he had been in no condition to keep playing. "It was a very ugly insult," Gaya said. "I won't say what it was."
"I was far away from the incident. Diakhaby looked very angry and animated and he told us that he had received a racist insult. That's why we headed off the pitch.
"It's lamentable that this kind of thing is still happening in football and a solution has to be put in place."
Gaya, also a defender, said the Valencia players hadn't spoken to Cala. However, he said, Diakhaby's reaction made the team "sure" Cala had said something. Valencia said it offered its "complete backing" to Diakhaby. "WE SUPPORT YOU MOUCTAR," it wrote.
"Today is a sad day for our sport," Valencia said in an official statement. "Today was not a loss in a game. It was a loss [of] respect, a loss of the spirit of football and sport."
Cadiz coach Alvaro Cervera said his player Cala had assured him he had not insulted Diakhaby.
"We need to condemn these actions when they occur, but I believe what my player told me," Cervera said.
Cadiz, in a club statement, said it was "against all forms of racism or xenophobia" and that it worked "hard to help eradicate'' them. "Anyone guilty of such an offense, whether or not they belong to our team, must be punished," Cadiz said.
"We work and will continue to work so that in our soccer there is no xenophobic behavior, with a 'NO TO RACISM' with all its forcefulness."
However, it added that the club had "complete confidence in the integrity of our squad members, who are staunch supporters of the fight against racism."