Great game. Weigl MOTM for me. Leverkusen were incredibly physical and he stood up to them and battled. Durm and Bartra were great too. Auba scored 2 and Dembele is such a talent. Castro and Piszczek were both poor and it really showed, but Sokratis did very badly for the first goal. Leverkusen ran themselves into the ground and Dortmund not only stood up to it, but were winning. Last 20 mins Leverkusen were dead on their feet. Bring on Benfica. Auba 21 appearances 21 goals. Sign him up.
BVB at home since April 14th 2014: WWWW (TT takes over) WWWDWWWWWWWDWWWWDWWWDDWWDWWW If we could have repeated that feat away from home, we'd have a couple of trophies by now too.
PEA overtook Lewadowski's BVB goals tally this afternoon. Currently has the best goals per game ratio of any BVB striker in history.
Bad news. Sky is saying that MR suffered a muscle tear. That' usually 3 weeks out. We will have to wait and find out tomorrow. At this point it's all speculation and no source is accurate. Hell, even the docs don't know for sure.
Really bad news about Reus and it makes me worried about the Benfica game, which I was very confident about before. It's not just that Reus is a world class player, but he is the real captain of the team. The young players look up to him and take what he says seriously. The players are also more confident when he is on the pitch. I think Schurrle should start in his place. As for the league games, I don't think it's that big a deal. The team should make top 4, as long as he is back for the Bayern cup game and quarters of the CL, providing we make it.
I'll take Christian Pulisic over Schurrle any day. The latter along with Kagawa can come off the bench. With a gap of just 6 points, I am feeling confident about catching up with RBL for the 2nd spot.
If this had been Dembele that was injured then I would definitely have favoured Pulisic. However, this is going to be a high pressure game. There's already a lack of experience and a lack of players that have peformed in high pressure situations. Schurrle has performed and scored on the biggest stage numerous times. I think this is a match for him. Should we need goals then Pulisic on for Durm and Kagawa on for Castro. The other big question is Schmelzer or Raphael? Raphael has won the Euros, but it could be a match for Schmelzer to start. Raphael can come on if we are chasing.
Schmelzer has been crap. Raphael has been one of our best players this season. Pulisic has more often been excellent than ineffective. He's got the skills to break down a stubborn defence. Schurrle does not.
Schmelzer hasn't shown much this season that demonstrates he should start in this kind of season-defining match. Give me Guerreiro and don't look back. Pulisic has done more this season and has clearly achieved greater trust with Tuchel than Schürrle, but my issue is if we start Pulisic then the only true goalscorer in the lineup is Aubameyang. It's a game for Schürrle to start and then sub in Pulisic if he's ineffective.
Yeh you are right about Schmelzer. I was over thinking it. Raphael is fantastic and should start. Pulisic has been effective coming off the bench. He hasn't actually been that effective when he has to start. Today is a perfect example of this. Leverkusen gave everything they had for the first 60 or so minutes. They pressed like few teams could, were very physical and very dirty. After 70 minutes they were dead on their feet.
Yah I just saw this on goal.com this morning. I had no idea.. What's with this guy? He's either got the worst luck ever or he's made of glass.... it's unbelievable
Apparently it is a tear and he is out for 4 weeks so will be touch and go if he makes the Schalke game. The key game he misses is the Benfica game. I don't think he would have played against Lotte and Dortmund should have too much for Inglostadt at home. A loss to Berlin is not too damaging either. It's all about Benfica. The team must go through.
LOL. I have edited it. Losing to Berlin or drawing wouldn't be the end of the world. With the form the team is showing they should still easily make top 3.
Sorry mate, but I would happily take a loss in Berlin for a 2-0 win on Wednesday. I am greedy though, so I will ask for 2 wins. Enjoy the game and hopefully your appearance brings the team some luck.
Why can't we win both? Giving up on a 2nd spot with more than 10 matches to go seems ridiculous when you say we have the 2nd best squad in the BL.
We can win both and I am asking the team to win both. However, there's not a huge difference in coming 2nd and coming 3rd. Winning the cup and going far in the CL is what the club needs financially and on the pitch. I would take winning the cup and coming 3rd over coming 2nd. The aim, depending on the draw, should be to get to the CL semi-final, win the cup and come 2nd. Coming 2nd is just by far the least important objective as long as the team comes in the top 3.
Would like to see bvb go far in the CL... Reus is extremely frustrating.... He's your "Robbery" because he's a glass canon
One or the either is not an option for a top club in a league that has only 17 club to compete against and gets a winter break. You're contradicting yourself here.