The thin line between winning and losing | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund missed out on a place in the quarter-finals after suffering an unfortunate 1-0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. In the second meeting between these two top teams within three days, it was once again the away team that won, and once again the team that did not dictate the game that won. BVB had 11-0 corners in front of a full house and had 55% of possession. However, Leverkusen's Maza scored the one decisive goal in the first half following one of the few situations in which the Dortmund defence was not perfectly organised. Bayer needed just six shots on goal to win, the same number as BVB three days earlier in the league. The team with the significantly higher shot ratio (16-6 for Leverkusen on Saturday, 18-6 for Dortmund on Tuesday) lost the game.

"My team still played well throughout the game. We could have scored one or two goals in the first half," said Niko Kovac, referring to Karim Adeyemi's two top chances in the 40th and 42nd minutes. If they had been converted, the game might have had a different outcome. Then Leverkusen would have had to take the initiative and then... see above...

“Bayer defended well and scored against us with their first attack,” said Kovac: “We had enough players behind the ball. Maza (Leverkusen’s goalscorer, ed.) had already lost the ball two or three times, but it still fell at his feet. Details make the difference at this level. Today, Leverkusen had the luck that we had three days ago.”

And if you’re not lucky the first time, ask Jürgen Wegmann, because bad luck usually follows. Referee Tobias Stieler made a decision one way – but a very similar scene on the first matchday of the Bundesliga was judged exactly the opposite way by his colleague Matthias Jöllenbeck in BVB's match away to FC St. Pauli, to Dortmund’s disadvantage, when Filippo Mane’s hold on Abdoulie Ceesay resulted in a penalty. In the cup match, Bayer defender Jarell Quansah’s hold on Carney Chukwuemeka in the 19th minute had no consequences. “In my opinion, that’s a penalty-worthy foul,” said Kovac. Stieler replied: “I can see a hold, but it’s a minimal, ineffective hold. What I also see is that the player looks up and sees, ‘Oh, I can’t get to the ball anymore,’ feels the holding and then goes down.”

Small details decided this clash, this time to the detriment of Borussia Dortmund. This also ended a proud home run of ten wins and two draws in all competitions since March at the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK fortress. “We still want to achieve a great deal. We’ve done well in the league and we’re sixth in the Champions League,” Nico Schlotterbeck stressed with a view to the rest of the season.

However, a trip to Berlin is now only on the agenda in the league. Borussia Dortmund will try again in the cup next season.Boris Rupert