Did you miss that feeling? That sinking feeling in your chest that you only get when your favorite German football team has blown a lead? It’s been several months since I felt it, but it’s back, and I did not miss it.
Borussia Dortmund kicked off their season today against St. Pauli. Their Bundesliga season. The Bundesliga season: as in, Germany’s top football division. As in, a division ostensibly operated by professionals. As in, a league not to be played on a pitch that looks like workshop floor
at an industrial paper mill after an earthquake.
The literal rubbish on the pitch was only slightly worse than the metaphorical rubbish, which was everything else about this game. For the entire first half about 40% of the pitch was effectively unplayable, with every pass through the piles of confetti dying immediately. St. Pauli crowded out the other half and made it next to impossible for Dortmund to play through, except for one occasion when Marcel Sabitzer lofted a beautiful cross through the air that Serhou Guirassy finished with a strong header. Guirassy would fail, however, to extend Dortmund’s lead by missing a penalty earned by Karim Adeyemi. This would come back to bite Dortmund later.
The second half was slightly better, but both sides continued to play mostly hideous football, with a few penalties and two worldie goals notwithstanding. St. Pauli equalized after the break, but goals from Waldemar Anton and Julian Brandt put Dortmund well on their way to a victory, until the 85th minute when Filippo Mané dragged down Abdoulie Ceesay for a DOGSO in the box without playing the ball, meaning it was both a penalty and a red card. St. Pauli converted, and then Eric Smith scored minutes later with a banger from outside the box to spoil Dortmund’s fun.
Here are the highlights:
Now let’s break down some of the key talking points:
#1: The Red Card Incident
I hate to rain on everybody’s parade but, as best as I can tell, this was the right call, and it’s about as clear under the rules as it can get. Under IFAB Law #12:
Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.), the offending player must be sent off.
Mané was clearly not making an attempt to play the ball. Holding is specifically listed as an example of a play that would get an offending player sent off. It was a clear foul. It was the right call and, in my mind, there shouldn’t be any doubt about it.
#2: Lots of Quiet Starts
Jobe Bellingham made his debut in black and yellow today, but you would hardly have known that. He only played one half and his impact was minimal, with only 12 passes and 27 touches. He was not the only one to start off his season with a bit of a sputter, though. Svensson had some awkward moments, including when he slipped crucially in the prelude to St. Pauli’s first goal. Julian Brandt scored a beautiful goal, but was pretty quiet aside from that, with no major chances created.
#3: Sign More Players Please
It’s clear to me that Filippo Mané is not ready for primetime. Further, Ramy Bensebaini has played admirably as a center-back, but it’s still not his primary position either. Aaron Anselmino sounds like he would be a significant upgrade over Mané. I also think that Chukwuemeka could have helped in the attacking third. Dortmund needs to bring in reinforcements quickly or else this will be a long season.
Your Thoughts
What did you think? Did BVB just get unlucky in a very chaotic match, or is this more of a sign of trouble in the future?
