It was dark when Borussia Dortmund’s bus arrived back at the club’s training ground in Brackel but it couldn’t get in. It was blocked by several hundred supporters, chanting and lighting the winter night with pyro. A couple of the players, Axel Witsel and Achraf Hakimi, got off the coach and joined them.
This may already be shaping up to be a special season for Dortmund but if you wondered what this dream start – unbeaten in the Bundesliga, soaring above champions Bayern Munich having beaten them in Der Klassiker last month, through to the Champions League last 16 – was missing, then here was the answer. They had entered Saturday afternoon’s match already 19 points clear of rivals Schalke but winning the Revierderby, whenever, however, always means so much.
Dortmund had been winless in their last five meetings against the old enemy – their last derby victory came in November 2015 – and it was an itch that badly needed scratching, as Mario Götze admitted in the week leading up to the game. Götze’s only goal in the fixture, in November last year, had been blemished by the small matter of his team frittering away a 4-0 half-time lead to draw. So even in these circumstances, no chickens were being counted at Westfalen.
Eventually, it fell to a player in his first Revierderby to decide it – and in trying circumstances. Jadon Sancho missed training sessions last week to fly to London after his grandmother’s death – and missing training at Dortmund almost always means being left out of the XI. He was offered the option of sitting out after his return on Friday night, “but he really wanted to play,” said coach Lucien Favre. He rose to the occasion and then some, responding after Daniel Caligiuri’s unexpected second-half equaliser by picking the ball up on the left, playing a one-two with substitute Raphaël Guerreiro and taking his time before expertly tucking the winner past Ralf Fährmann into the far corner.
In the words of sporting director Michael Zorc, it was part of “an exceptional performance” by the English teenager, especially when set against the background of a tough few days. After the ball hit the net, Sancho raised his arms to the sky, index fingers pointed, before being comforted by his waiting teammates. Their estimation of him is clear. “I’ve got great respect for his strong mentality,” said skipper Marco Reus. “It’s a big compliment to him that he continued to train, to be focused – and that he managed to smile.”
Throughout Sancho was willing and available, happy to take on possession in the sort of closed, tight situations that characterise a derby. The only irony after he tormented left-back Bastian Oczipka – who looked all at sea and spent much of the game treading on eggshells after a yellow card for fouling the England winger – was that Sancho should pop up on the opposite side for his goal.
He also exhibited the imagination that Schalke lacked, despite considerable investment in their midfield with Sebastian Rudy, Suat Serdar and Omar Mascarell all joining. As Kicker’s Toni Lieto put it: “The Revierderby has made it clear to everyone; in the league, Schalke are only partially competitive.” After 14 games they’re going along at a point per game and their 15 goals include four penalties after Caligiuri’s successful spot kick.
Shorn of fit attackers, with Mark Uth and Breel Embolo out again, Domenico Tedesco picked midfielder Weston McKennie alongside Guido Burgstaller but it didn’t work, even before the latter also had to withdraw through injury. If Tedesco had tried to retain the front-foot style of last week’s entertaining performance at Hoffenheim, it didn’t work. “Regardless of the ‘present situation’,” wrote Lieto, “one must say that even at times when Uth, Embolo, [Franco] Di Santo and company could still be deployed, Schalke did not exactly spread fear and terror in opposing defences.”
Much of the credit on this occasion, though, must go to their opponents, and their ability to mix the pragmatic with the pretty. “I already knew before the start that Schalke wouldn’t be letting off any fireworks in attack,” Reus suggested. “Witsel and Thomas Delaney [who scored the opener from a Reus delivery] give us so much energy in the middle.”
For a single-goal win, this felt emphatic, and was celebrated as such by the 6,000 travelling Dortmund fans. While it means a great deal in isolation, this victory couldn’t have been better timed with three fixtures to go in the calendar year in terms of impetus. To say Dortmund are begging for the winter break would be overstating it but they will welcome it. “Of course,” said Reus, “you slowly notice that the power isn’t there like it was at the start of the season. That’s why it’s important that we have a lot of players in our squad of sufficient quality to step in.”
Some will get a chance at Monaco in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Reus, Delaney, Sancho (who will be going home to spend time with his family), Witsel, Lukasz Piszczek and Jacob Bruun Larsen all rested. If they are feeling the strain of their efforts, then they are reaping the rewards of them too.
Time will tell if the spring will be worthy of unpacking more pyro for the BVB faithful. For now, they are meeting every possible challenge – which is giving their local rivals plenty to ponder before the winter break and its transfer window.
The Guardian Sport
