Between Copenhagen and Köln: stability at the back, quality up top | OneFootball

The head coach made five changes to his starting line-up for Tuesday evening’s 4-2 win away to FC Copenhagen, bringing in some fresh sets of legs. Jobe Bellingham played the full 90 minutes for the first time and set up two goals. “He deserves a special mention,” said Kovac after his successful reshuffle, which he intends to stick with. “We now have this cycle of seven games” – within three weeks – “six of them away,” said Kovac (to the reactions). Added to the games are the stresses of travelling.

So it’s convenient that Fabio Silva is already offering himself as an alternative for centre-forward position with a view to Saturday’s Bundesliga home game against 1. FC Köln. The options for the positions alongside and behind him are extensive. Only on the left side is there a “permanent player” in Daniel Svensson; one who, according to Kovac, is “blessed by nature” with his extraordinary stamina.

“It’s not just the games, but also all the stress of travelling and the different beds you have to sleep in. I’m going to rotate the squad, which is what I did today, because I stand by what I say: we have a very good team, we have a lot of quality. And that’s why every single player can play – we saw that again tonight,” said Kovac on DAZN on Tuesday evening.

In addition to a balanced squad, another characteristic is efficiency in front of goal. 12 goals have been scored from 32 shots on target in the first three Champions League games of the season – four in each game (see facts). Even though the team have conceded seven goals in this competition, they have shown in the league that they have understood and taken to heart the core principles of defending. Six goals conceded after seven matchdays is the fewest for BVB since 2017 and currently the second fewest in the league after Bayern Munich (four).

Stability at the back, quality up front – that’s BVB under Kovac. Sporting director Sebastian Kehl describes a “feeling that we are very stable overall. But for that to be true, you need results. We got back on that track in Copenhagen. It gives us confidence and also shows that we have great quality in different constellations, even with many new players coming in or being substituted, which will help us in the coming weeks. Every single member of the team is needed.”Boris Rupert