Press review BVB vs Werder Bremen: successful, but still lacking sparkle | OneFootball

BVB wins its first home game of the new year 2026 with a 3:0 victory. Against Werder Bremen, Serhou Guirassy also finds the net again after months of absence. However, despite leading 1:0 at halftime, there were whistles at Signal Iduna Park. Here are selected press reactions to the match in Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund will finish the first half of the season in second place no matter what. “But the performance against Bremen was not worthy of a runner-up for a long time,” writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung. “Basically, there was nothing positive to report in the first half,” apart from Nico Schlotterbeck’s opening goal. “The second half was hardly more spectacular, but more assured.”

The FAZ sounds very similar: “After the break, BVB got into the game a bit better. But Dortmund still did not offer any thrilling attacking football.” Previously, BVB had made many errors in their build-up play, and the lead did not provide any security. Werder was even the better team. In the second half, Borussia Dortmund showed fewer uncertainties in their combinations and rewarded themselves with two more goals. These “papered over (…) a long, lackluster performance in terms of play.” Conclusion: “Successful, but still lacking brilliance.”

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Three goals, but BVB “lackluster in play for a long time”

“In the end, it was comfortable,” is how the Zeit judges BVB’s victory over Werder Bremen, somewhat more leniently. Only late in the game did they seal the win, after a nervous opening phase that gave Werder real chances and required some luck in BVB’s defense. But because, among others, Serhou Guirassy scored for the Black and Yellows after a long break, BVB remains unbeaten at home and solidifies its second place in the table.

The Kreiszeitung from the Bremen area laments Werder’s missed chances. “The result [could] have looked much more favorable due to their own good opportunities in the opening phase.” Undoubtedly, “against a by no means convincing Borussia Dortmund,” they could have gone into halftime with a better result. Even after the break, the action was “even,” with BVB “far too sluggish.” Nevertheless, in the end, BVB punished the “solid, but harmless” Werder Bremen, summarizes the Kreiszeitung.

BVB was “ice cold”—but only at the very end, according to the WAZ. Before that, there were many inaccuracies in their play, and Dortmund’s defense “kept wobbling.” And “BVB didn’t get beyond approaches in combination play.” After the break, Werder became even bolder. But they lacked the quality for more, which is why Marcel Sabitzer was able to seal the deal with his late 2:0. This time, BVB did not fall into the “lead trap,” as had happened more often recently.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.