{"id":19655,"date":"2025-09-19T15:04:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T15:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=19655"},"modified":"2025-09-19T15:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T15:04:02","slug":"dortmund-on-lookout-for-leaders-as-familiar-cracks-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=19655","title":{"rendered":"Dortmund on lookout for leaders as familiar cracks emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"
Borussia Dortmund’s early promise is already being eroded by familiar failings in crucial moments just three games into the Bundesliga season.<\/p>\n

Dortmund, who host Wolfsburg on Sunday, have already shown a worrying tendency of fading late this season.<\/p>\n

Leading 3-1 in their season opener at St Pauli with five minutes remaining, Dortmund conceded twice in three minutes and lost rookie centre-back Filippo Mane to a red card.<\/p>\n

In the Champions League on Tuesday, Dortmund led three times away at Juventus — including 4-2 in the third minute of stoppage time — before allowing the Italians to snatch a 4-4 draw with two late goals.<\/p>\n

Dortmund’s lack of leadership was also evident when striker Serhou Guirassy and defender Ramy Bensebaini openly tussled when both wanted to take a late penalty, forcing coach Niko Kovac to intervene.<\/p>\n

Many of the same criticisms have been levelled at Dortmund in recent seasons: a team with talent and promise undermined by a lack of maturity.<\/p>\n

Dortmund were united in identifying the root of the problem in the aftermath of Tuesday’s game.<\/p>\n

Sporting director Sebastian Kehl said his side were “a bit naive in the last minutes,” adding “to give away a sure victory right at the end is a bitter result.”<\/p>\n

Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel told reporters: “We need to finish the game cooly and with composure — we have to play more maturely.”<\/p>\n

If Dortmund are to respond, there is probably no better opponent than their bunnies, Wolfsburg, a team they have had the better of for a decade.<\/p>\n

Dortmund have a remarkable recent record against the Wolves, particularly at home, where they have not lost since 2012.<\/p>\n

In their past four home games against Wolfsburg, Dortmund have won 4-0, 1-0, 6-0 and 6-1.<\/p>\n

Wolfsburg’s hopes of overturning the recent record could be boosted by the likely debut of Christian Eriksen.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old former Tottenham and Manchester United midfielder said Thursday he was “fit and ready,” to play on Sunday.<\/p>\n

“If you ask me, then yes. The coach picks the team and decides who’s ready for the game — but I’m all set.”<\/p>\n

One to watch: Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich)<\/p>\n

Lost amid Harry Kane’s incredible run and Nicolas Jackson’s drawn-out transfer saga has been the form of another one of Bayern Munich’s former Premier League stars: Luis Diaz.<\/p>\n

Diaz has slotted in perfectly on Bayern’s left wing since arriving from Liverpool, scoring three goals and setting up two more in just three Bundesliga matches.<\/p>\n

After Bayern’s 3-1 win over Chelsea on Wednesday, the 28-year-old Colombian revealed he held talks with Barcelona in the summer, but made “an objective decision about my future” to move to Munich.<\/p>\n

“I’m very happy with my decision to join this great club. There were talks, which is normal in the transfer market, but I made the decision to come here and now I’ll try my best.”<\/p>\n

Key stats<\/p>\n

2 – Just three matchdays in, two coaches have already been sacked: Bayer Leverkusen’s Erik ten Hag and Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Gerardo Seoane. The two sides face off on Sunday.<\/p>\n

36 – Since last losing to Wolfsburg at home in 2012, Dortmund have won 10 and drawn two against the Wolves, scoring 36 goals and conceding just five.<\/p>\n

0 – Heidenheim are the only side yet to claim a point this season. They play away at fellow strugglers Hamburg on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Fixtures (1330 GMT unless stated)<\/p>\n

Friday<\/p>\n

Stuttgart v St Pauli (1830)<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/p>\n

Augsburg v Mainz, Hoffenheim v Bayern Munich, Hamburg v Heidenheim, Werder Bremen v Freiburg, RB Leipzig v Cologne (1630)<\/p>\n

Sunday<\/p>\n

Eintracht Frankfurt v Union Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia Moenchengladbach (1530), Borussia Dortmund v Wolfsburg (1730)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Borussia Dortmund’s early promise is already being eroded by familiar failings in crucial moments just three games into the Bundesliga season. Dortmund, who host Wolfsburg on Sunday, have already shown a worrying tendency of fading late this season. Leading 3-1 in their season opener at St Pauli with five minutes remaining, Dortmund conceded twice in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}