Dynamic Duo symbolise Dortmund's upswing
Monday, March 2, 2015
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Jürgen Klopp had mixed feelings about Batman and Robin's cameo in Borussia Dortmund's weekend derby win, but his players are clearly enjoying their football again.
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"I have always maintained that our problem was a lack of confidence," beamed Mats Hummels after Saturday's 3-0 derby win against FC Schalke 04 found Borussia Dortmund at their best.
With 31 shots on goal, Dortmund cruised to a fourth successive league win, having racked up 13 goals in that run. That winning streak has lifted them from rock-bottom to tenth place in the Bundesliga, and while they remain five points above the relegation zone, only eight points now separate Jürgen Klopp's men from Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the division's fourth UEFA Champions League qualifying place, and spirits are soaring. Hummels again: "Now every one of our players knows again just how well he can play."
Dortmund's miserable league performances earlier in the season sparked speculation that Klopp's seven-year tenure as coach might be coming to an end, and unsurprisingly the 47-year-old is not getting ideas above his station just yet. "Today, we have nothing to do with the European places – I really don't care about them," he said. "We need to focus on the essentials. Today, we killed two birds with one stone; we reached 28 points and won the derby."
There were other positives too, not least the performance of Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The Armenian midfielder's undistinguished form had been symbolic of Dortmund's poor term, but the 26-year-old scored his first goal of the campaign against Schalke and was singled out for special praise by Klopp. "This was his best defensive performance ever for Borussia Dortmund," the coach said. "This can be a real new start for him."
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a great game too, scoring Dortmund's 78th-minute opener, and marking the occasion by whipping out a Batman mask while strike partner Marco Reus pulled on a corresponding Robin one. "We wanted to add some fun," Reus explained. "That wasn't possible in the first half of the season."
Aubemyang was booked for his exuberance and Klopp was not impressed, harking back to the Spiderman mask the Gabon striker had put on to celebrate a goal in last year's German Super Cup game against FC Bayern München. "I think we've gone through pretty much every mask there is now," he grumbled. "Of course, it is not nice to tell him that he can't do this anymore, but actually he shouldn't."
However, if you watch the replays, you can see that Klopp could not quite mask a smile when Batman and Robin did their turn. If it takes the reappearance of the Dynamic Duo to overturn Dortmund's 2-1 UEFA Champions League deficit against Juventus, Klopp might not complain too much.
