Bundesliga matchday 15:
Borussia Dortmund brilliantly qualified to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League by winning its group, ahead of Champions Real Madrid. The UCL draw awarded Benfica from Portugal, a relatively clement tie by avoiding the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
Still, BVB has much do to in Bundesliga dominated by Bayern Munich and the surprising RB Leipzig. The Bundesliga betting odds could not have predicted such an amazing start of the season for the newly promoted club, backed-up by energy supergiant Red Bull.
On matchday 15, Dortmund was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against against last undefeated team in the Bundesliga – Hoffenheim, so it was actually a good result. The problem is BVB sits at the 5th place in the table and it seems already almost impossible to catch on Bayern Munich and maybe RB Leipzig too with a 10 points deficit at the half-way mark in the season.
Coach Tuchel reacts on the performance and the draw playing with 10 men for the majority of the match:
“We knew we were facing a difficult away match here. Everything that could’ve gone against us did. At this point I am of course referring to the build-up to their second goal and the red card. That naturally made everything here in Hoffenheim much, much more difficult than it already was. T
he reaction that we subsequently showed to all those things that were going against us was, I think, extraordinary. We had more shots than Hoffenheim. In the half-time interval we resolved that we wouldn’t leave here tonight without any points. We wanted to fight with everything we had to stop that from happening. I think you could really sense that. For that I think the team deserves a huge compliment. I feel that given the unlucky way in which the match developed for us, we deserved to take a point home.”
On top of the table, Bayern Munich had a difficult game in Darmstadt but managed to win 1-0. Coach Ancelotti was relieved with the result:
“It was a difficult match, Darmstadt defended very well. We weren’t quick enough in the first half, it was a bit better in the second one. At the end of the day the most important thing is that we’ve won and remain at the top. I’m satisfied with that. But we can play better, faster.
We’ll give it everything and try to win against Leipzig on Wednesday.” And this match against Leipzig is an absolute must-watch to determine which team will end the year at first place
