Bundesliga Review - Composure the key to Dortmund's success

Dusel – a German phrase, describing the undeserved luck Bayern Munich “usually” get. It is a myth, a myth that some believe exists but as Borussia Dortmund look set to clinch back-to-back Bundesliga titles, dusel hasn’t been apparent at all of late. In fact, what looks to have separated Germany’s top two has been composure.

On Wednesday night, Borussia came out on top when playing Bayern, putting a six point gap between the pair. Yet had Arjen Robben kept his composure and concentration on three occasions (playing Lewandowski onside, missing the penalty and missing from 3 yards) in the last 15 minutes, Bayern wouldn’t be out of the title race.

They are though. Borussia Dortmund deserve great credit for keeping their cool in the last week. Firstly they rode out late pressure against Bayern at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday. Then on Saturday, BVB completed what was perhaps an even more meaningful victory over arch-rivals Schalke, despite not being at the best.

It wasn’t easy for Dortmund as they probably anticipated. Their Gelsenkirchen neighbours are ranked third in Germany and they took an early lead thanks to Jefferson Farfan’s spectacular effort which took a sizeable nick off Shinji Kagawa. Borussia were unflustered and duly responded with a terrific effort.

Right back Lukasz Piszczek has been superb for Die Schwarzgelben but his goal scoring prowess isn’t what he’s noted for. However, his strike against Schalke was majestic. On his weaker foot, he struck a half volley from a tight angle wide on the left in the penalty area, which flew past the diving figure of Lars Unnerstall – one all. Surely the game couldn’t produce an even better goal?

No, it couldn’t. The winner was scrappy. Club Captain Sebastian Kehl latched onto a poor touch from Christoph Metzelder inside the six yard box to stab the ball home, securing victory in the Revierderby for Dortmund. What’s more it meant BVB extended their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to 25 games.

“Twenty-five games? That’s crazy! What we have done is unimaginable.”

It’s hard to disagree with Jürgen Klopp. What Dortmund have done is fantastic and they only need two points to create an unassailable total for Bayern Munich after they drew against Klopp’s former side Mainz on Saturday evening.

Jupp Heynckes did make changes with the Real Madrid game on Tuesday in mind. However, they lacked the necessary intensity to break down a resolute Mainz team, who deserved more credit than they received in the aftermath of Saturday’s result.

Victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach this weekend will secure the Bundesliga title for Dortmund. In fact, if Werder Bremen take anything off Bayern Munich earlier in the day, then it will be all over before a ball is kicked in the Ruhr.

As Klopp said in the aftermath of Saturday’s victory though, “This team is never satisfied and is incredibly greedy.” This thirst is part of what makes Dortmund champions. Their composure at the most critical moments though when others might have flinched is ultimately why Borussia Dortmund will be crowned as Bundesliga winners for a second consecutive year.

Article originally published on FootballFanCast.com - For more on the Bundesliga, follow @archiert1

Matchday 31 Results:

Stuttgart 4-1 Werder Bremen

Bayer Leverkusen 3-3 Hertha Berlin

Hamburg 1-0 Hannover

Kaiserslautern 0-2 Nuremberg

Schalke 1-2 Borussia Dortmund

Wolfsburg 1-2 Augsburg

Bayern Munich 0-0 Mainz

Cologne 3-0 Gladbach

Freiburg 0-0 Hoffenheim

Table

Rank		Club	Matches	W*	D*	L*	G*	GD*	PTS*
1		Borussia Dortmund	31	22	6	3	69:23	+46	72	CL*
2		FC Bayern Munich	31	20	4	7	69:20	+49	64	CL*
3		FC Schalke 04	31	18	3	10	66:41	+25	57	CL*
4		Borussia Mönchengladbach	31	16	8	7	46:22	+24	56	CL* Qual.
5		VfB Stuttgart	31	14	7	10	59:41	+18	49	EL*
6		Bayer 04 Leverkusen	31	12	9	10	46:43	+3	45	EL* Qual.
7		Hannover 96	31	11	11	9	39:43	-4	44	EL* Qual.
8		SV Werder Bremen	31	11	9	11	45:50	-5	42
9		1899 Hoffenheim	31	10	11	10	38:40	-2	41
10		VfL Wolfsburg	31	12	4	15	42:56	-14	40
11		1. FC Nuremberg	31	11	5	15	33:42	-9	38
12		1. FSV Mainz 05	31	9	10	12	47:48	-1	37
13		SC Freiburg	31	9	9	13	41:56	-15	36
14		Hamburger SV	31	8	10	13	34:55	-21	34
15		FC Augsburg	31	7	12	12	34:48	-14	33
16		1. FC Köln	31	8	5	18	36:66	-30	29	Play-offs
17		Hertha BSC Berlin	31	6	10	15	34:57	-23	28	Relegation
18		1. FC Kaiserslautern	31	3	11	17	19:46	-27	20	Relegation

Table thanks to the Bundesliga Official Website

Archie