The Bundesliga is one of the most competitive leagues in Europe. With their spending restrictions, it causes the teams to be closer talent-wise. It still doesn’t prevent teams like Bayern Munich to run away with everything but at least it helps. Even with the league being as competitive as it is, it’s nowhere near comparison to the competitiveness of Champions League. Quite simply, there aren’t too many German teams who could play like Dortmund in Champions League. Whenever a team like Hamburger can beat a team like Arsenal, then I’ll accept the Bundesliga is more competitive than Champions League and that it’s a viable reason for Dortmund’s struggles.
Another reason thrown around is that Dortmund’s players are suffering from a World Cup hangover and needed a rest. That really doesn’t apply here because the only Dortmund players who were in the World Cup were reserves who didn’t play that much. Also, wouldn’t Bayern Munich be the team who would suffer from a World Cup hangover? Pretty much half of Bayern’s roster was on the German National Team.
The most likely answer has to do with strategy. When we break apart Dortmund’s schedule even further and include those games they have played during the week, we get a little glimpse into their psyche.
Loss – 0-2 vs. Bayer Leverkusen (currently 6th)
Win – 2-3 at Augsburg (7th)
Win – 3-1 vs. Freiburg (13th)
ARSENAL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Loss – 2-0 at Mainz 05 (8th)
Draw – 2-2 vs. VfB Stuttgart (18th)
Loss – 2-1 at Schalke (11th)
ANDERLECHT CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Loss – 0-1 vs. Hamburger (17th)
Loss – 2-1 at FC Koln (10th)
GALATASARAY CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Loss – 0-1 vs. Hannover (4th)
GERMAN CUP St. Pauli
Loss – 2-1 at Bayern Munich (1st)
GALATASARAY CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Win – 1-0 vs. Borussia Monchengladbach (4th)
Quite frankly, it seems as if Borussia Dortmund is concentrating on Champions League much more than the Bundesliga. Dortmund lost their first three games after playing in a Champions League game right before. While they did beat Monchengladbach, they won 1-0 due to relying on Mr. Own Goal. This trend of not playing well after Champions League games seems to follow other teams too. While Bayern Munich haven’t lost a game yet, they do have three draws and two of their three draws have come in games occurring right after Champions League games. These teams who are in Champions League may be better and more talented, but it’s looking more likely that a few more days rest and one less game is making all the difference to a lot of these lower table teams as they compete against and look to beat the big teams. It’s still pretty early to completely write off Borussia Dortmund for a UEFA Champions League spot because they’re still only nine points away from 4th but they really need to get things going sooner rather than later because they can’t afford to lose any more ground.
