Can Sancho and Haaland inflict more misery on Bremen?
February 21, 2020
On Tuesday night, the rest of Europe saw what followers of the Bundesliga have known for some time: This young Borussia Dortmund side is one of the continent's most talented, most exciting and most dangerous propositions.
Their 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain featured yet another brace for the irrepresible, insatiable Erling Haaland (19), another performance of astounding skill and maturity from Jadon Sancho (19) and another assist for the latest teen talent off the block, Gio Reyna (17).
That trio continue to send records tumbling by the game and the understanding Sancho and Haaland have already developed has been as impressive as it has been rapid.
Happy knack
"Playing behind him and with him is just a great feeling," Sancho told Bundesliga.com. "I know where to find him and where he wants the ball, and he knows how I want the ball played to me - so it's a good understanding between us.
"I just feel like I'm in my happy place," he continued. "I just love football, if I had a choice, I'd play every day until I'm 100 years old."
But, for all the joy around the Westfalenstadion at the minute, there have also been plenty of recent moments when their coach, Lucien Favre, must have felt closer to a century than to his 62 years. The seesawing 4-3 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen earlier this month, was a reminder of the fragility that often undermines BVB's swashbuckling brilliance. Even Emre Can, making his full debut that day, described it as "a game which summed up Borussia Dortmund."
But can they break Bayern Munich's Bundesliga dominance with such a style? Favre presumably thinks not, with the signing of Can a nod towards tightening up in midfield and allowing the forward line the freedom to express themselves.
Bremen in freefall
Regardless of BVB's balance issues, the league's most potent attack (at least until Bayern host Paderborn on Friday night) will undoubtedly cause Florian Kohfeldt to lose even more sleep than he already is. Werder Bremen look prepared to stand by their man despite losing their last five home games and winning just one of their last nine in the Bundesliga. For now, at least.
Their dismal season was perked up briefly by knocking BVB out of the German Cup for the second year running a few weeks ago and a repeat at the Weserstadion would help the team second from bottom stay in touch. Mainz, the team in the last safe position, have built up a five-point gap.
Kohfledt wants his team to be aggresive and direct. "We want to annoy them. There are ways to take away their joy," he said. "I've seen improvements at training. This will pay off on the pitch. That's the main reason for our belief in the cause, and that belief will not vanish."
Neither will Dortmund's threat. But as we've seen in recent seasons, BVB's title aspirations can all too quickly disappear in a puff of smoke. With trips to Mönchengladbach, Paris and a derby with Schalke to come in the few weeks after this, Favre will hope to see Sancho, Haaland and co. pull a few more rabbits out of hats.