After beating Newcastle, newly pragmatic Dortmund faces Frankfurt's tight defense
DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — A 1-0 win is just fine for Borussia Dortmund.
After years of thrilling games packed with goals but little success — and dropping the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich in the final minutes of last season — Dortmund is going back to basics.
“Less sexy, more success,” was how coach Edin Terzic summed up the new, more pragmatic mindset last week.
Dortmund's 1-0 win over Newcastle in the Champions League on Wednesday was the third time in four games that Terzic's team didn't concede a goal. It was by no means an easy win, or even a commanding defensive performance — Newcastle hit the crossbar twice — but Dortmund showed a steel and resilience which was sometimes lacking in recent years.
Meanwhile, Dortmund alumni Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland were winning games for Real Madrid and Manchester City. Arguably the two best-performing players in world soccer this season so far, they left Dortmund having won only the 2021 German Cup.
Dortmund was always entertaining with Haaland and Bellingham on board, but not always effective.
The Norwegian striker's first four games at Dortmund after his arrival in January 2020 featured a scarcely believable 26 goals in total, eight of them scored by Haaland himself. But the attacking fireworks were pared with a defense that tended to crumble. It was perhaps appropriate that Haaland scored a hat trick in his second-to-last home game at Dortmund in April 2022 but the team still lost 4-3 to lowly Bochum.
Last season Bayern Munich had its lowest points total in 12 years but Dortmund still fell short on goal difference before Bellingham departed for Madrid. Crucially, Dortmund never beat Bayern with Haaland or Bellingham in its team.
Next up for Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Sunday is another team which is focusing on fundamentals after a rollercoaster few years. Under ex-coach Oliver Glasner, Eintracht Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2021-22 and played in the Champions League knockout stages last season but Glasner left after a seventh-place league finish and star striker Randal Kolo Muani was sold to Paris Saint-Germain.
Former Bayern assistant Dino Toppmöller took over as coach with a much-changed squad but so far Frankfurt has conceded just six goals in eight Bundesliga games, the best record in the league.
A win for Dortmund would be the sixth in a row in the Bundesliga for Terzic's team and the ideal preparation for the “Klassiker” against Bayern on Nov. 4.
The two title rivals from last season are even with 20 points in third and fourth as Bayern gears up to play promoted Darmstadt. The game could see the return of Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after more than 10 months since he broke his leg while skiing on vacation following the World Cup. Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said Tuesday that Neuer will play if he's able.
The early-season leader remains Bayer Leverkusen, where coach Xabi Alonso is still getting the most out of his young squad ahead of hosting Freiburg on Sunday. Second-place Stuttgart must face Hoffenheim on Saturday without the league's top scorer Serhou Guirassy. The Guinean forward has 14 goals in eight games but went off injured in last week's 3-0 win over floundering Union Berlin.
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