Both of the Bundesliga 2025 Club World Cup representatives are off to an undefeated start in the current tournament. German record champions Bayern Munich defeated Auckland City FC 10-0 in their opening group stage fixture before eking past Argentina’s Boca Juniors 2-1 six days later. Borussia Dortmund managed a 0-0 draw against Brazil’s Fluminese in their maiden match and then snatched three points off South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns yesterday.
Despite the fact that the BVB victory gave Niko Kovac’s Schwargelben plenty of positives to commemorate, the general mood in Dortmund’s camp wasn’t great. The Germans initially fell behind against the heavy underdogs. The South Africans then mounted an impressive comeback near the end of the match, coming close to erasing a 1-4 deficit. Only a string of mistakes from their opponent and an own-goal enabled Dortmund to prevail 3-4.
The statistics after the game demonstrated how poorly BVB played: Mamelodi played almost 200 more passes than Dortmund (583 to 388), generated more shots on goal (16:8) and also led in xGoals (2.60 to 2.19). In the sweltering Cincinnati heat, Dortmund looked lumbering and plodding. Niko Kovac’s team only ran a cumulative total of 2014 kilometers.
Kovac referenced the temperatures in his post match interview with German broadcaster DAZN. BVB keeper Gregor Kobel wasn’t in the mood to make any excuses when discussing the performance. The Swiss international simply couldn’t accept the constant assault on his net.
“It annoys me that we let a 4-1 lead slip away,” Kovac said. “but I can see why it happened. We certainly didn’t play our best game today, but that wasn’t possible. I didn’t do much [on the touchline]. I just stood there on the sidelines sweating like I came out of a sauna. It wasn’t a neat-and-tidy game, but I don’t care. We won.”
“I can’t say much positive apart from the result,” Kobel added. “We can’t concede three goals. Not like that. We scored ourselves, but otherwise there wasn’t much.”
What currently transpires with Dortmund in the USA could be adequately described as “typically Dortmund”. The Bundesliga’s perennial “also-rans” over the last 12 years simply can’t seem to get any sort of leg-up on their Bavarian rivals. News breaking early Sunday seemed to confirm BVB’s “snake-bit status”.
Before returning to Cincinnati on Wednesday to face Ulsan HD in their final group stage fixture, Dortmund flew back to their Miami-based training camp. A Sunday public training session – replete with 150 invited media guests – had to be rescheduled around the victory parade organized for the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.
The southern ice-hockey team captured their second consecutive NHL Championship on Tuesday, defeating Canada’s Edmonton Oilers for the second year in-a-row. The performance of Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup Finals over the past three decades plus may remind some Canadian hockey enthusiasts of Dortmund’s last 12 years in the Bundesliga.
Canadian teams have reached the Stanley Cup Final seven times over the past 32 years only to lose to their American counterparts. The country that effectively worshiped the sport and founded the league hasn’t captured the title since the Montreal Canadians took home the cup in 1993.
BVB personnel boss Lars Ricken himself was in attendance at the Fort Lauderdale Arena on Tuesday to watch the Panthers claim a decisive Game Six victory. Ricken went to support German ice hockey star Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton.
Unfortunately for Draisaitl, Dortmund, and Canada, matters continue to deviate away from such things as plans, expectations, and hopes.
