If the pressure was ever on Thomas Tuchel, it’s now more than ever. The week started with Borussia Dortmund scraping through in the DFB Pokal against Hertha BSC – needing a penalty shootout – which was followed by a league defeat against bottom club Darmstadt.
Tuesday night saw the 1997 Champions League winners suffer a 1-0 defeat in Lisbon against Benfica, with former Fulham player Kostas Mitroglou scoring the only goal; in a performance where Dortmund just couldn’t finish their chances despite numerous opportunities.
Once the team had been announced on Tuesday evening for their clash against Benfica, questions were already being raised following the inclusion of Erik Durm in the starting XI, whilst Raphaël Guerreiro was once again chosen to start in central midfield, whilst Gonzalo Castro and Shinji Kagawa remained on the bench.
The talking point of the last 16 clash was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s missed penalty which would have been the equaliser, before he was substituted just after the hour mark. Tuchel criticised the body language of the Gabon international, but told reporters that he doesn’t think the 24-goal striker had a problem with being hauled off.
“Aubameyang is not fully fit after the African Nations Cup,” Tuchel said. “His body language did not suggest that he would do better after giving away the penalty. I don’t think he had a problem with the substitution.”
Lack of squad depth
With the 27-year-old their only recognised central forward, Dortmund were criticised after failing to bring in someone experienced as a back-up, instead signing Swedish prodigy Alexander Isak for just short of €10 million.
There’s no doubt that in time, Isak will become world class, but at just 17, he’s extremely raw to be playing first team football at Dortmund in the Champions League, although it is the right move, as opposed to joining Real Madrid of which he came very close to doing.
Arguments throughout Germany suggested that Dortmund should’ve kept hold of Adrian Ramos until the end of season, but instead he’s on loan at La Liga side Granada before moving on to Chinese Super League club Chongqing Dangdai Lifan.
Problems galore
If Tuchel wants to relieve some pressure, then he’s going to have to get a win on Matchday 21 in the Bundesliga, where they play Wolfsburg at the Westfalenstadion. However, following clashes with fans of RB Leipzig and police on MD19, Dortmund will face a partial stadium closure. Dortmund were also hit with a €100,000 fine which they have agreed to pay.
"In the build-up to the match, in the Strobelallee area (outside the ground), RB Leipzig supporters were bombarded with stones and cans from Borussia Dortmund fans," police said in a statement.
The club opted not to appeal against the imposed sanction from the DFB. According to the police statement, 350-400 hardcore Dortmund fans tried to block the Leipzig team bus, before turning attention towards the 8,000 travelling fans – at whom stones, bottles and beer cases were thrown.
In an effort to tone down fan violence, senior members of BVB’s board apologised to their counterparts at RB Leipzig, despite the club stating that the “collective punishment” was harsh on the fans in the terrace who do behave.
Because of such a meaningful and hatred-driven attack, Dortmund won’t have the famous Yellow Wall of the Südtribüne behind them on Saturday afternoon. The iconic wall is the largest free-standing terrace in European football, hosting 24,000 supporters each matchday, which contributes to the magnificent atmosphere in the German city.
Tough run of fixtures
With Wolfsburg up next, BVB also face Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen in the coming weeks as they look to turn their fortunes around. Not easy games, for sure. Wolfsburg are back to winning ways after being only the second team to beat Hoffenheim this season, whilst Freiburg are sitting in eighth under Christian Streich, following their promotion in the summer.
Against Leverkusen, it’s debatable what team they will be facing. Leverkusen are free-scoring, but their inability to defend could allow Dortmund to score multiple goals.
Win against Sportfreunde Lotte and Tuchel will see his team in the DFB Pokal semi-finals, whilst the second-leg of the Champions League also falls in the next month. With just one-and-a-half years remaining on his deal at Dortmund, Tuchel is surely feeling the pressure weigh-in on his shoulders.
Although they sit fourth in the Bundesliga, failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League could have a catastrophic effect on Tuchel’s future.
