Borussia Dortmund or the Borussians as they are famously called in Germany are the champions of BundesLiga for the second time in a row. But crossing the line first for the third consecutive time would be a real challenge for Jurgen Klopp and his men.
Will it be three in a row for Dortmund? Well, we will have to wait and seeBorussia Dortmund is without a doubt the hottest team in Germany by a long distance while, others are trying to catch up with Klopp’s young and talented side they are just opening up the gap every year.
Dortmund have grabbed the chance with both hands and made it two league titles in two years. But much of the applause should go to their manager Jurgen Klopp . He arrived at Dortmund in 2008 when they were struggling at the wrong side of the table finishing 13th just 9 points clear of relegation but just after two years he has helped them lift the title. Under Klopp, Borussia started to play more of an open game and tried to close down their opponents without giving them any sort of time to keep the ball.
The Remarkable turnaround started at the end of the 2009/10. With new addition like Shinji Kagawa, Łukasz Piszczek ,Robert Lewandowski and youngsters like Mario Götze, Nuri Sahin 2010/11 season one of their best seasons ever winning the title after a nine year drought . But at the end of the 2010/11 season Sahin left Dortmund to join Real Madrid. That raised a few questions amongst the supporters; But Klopp did not waste any time signing Mats Hummels and Sven Bender in the same window.
Klopp have converted an ordinary team who had lost their way for the last few years into a force to reckon with, all the new signings gelled-up quickly and also Götze, Roman Weidenfeller their veteran goal keeper renewing their contracts brought back faith amongst the players and fans which helped them successfully defend their league title .
Now after much speculation Sinji Kagawa has left Dortmund signing for Premier league Giants Manchester United, leaving Dortmund with a feeder club status with Klopp accepting that it would be difficult for his team to win the 3rd title in a row. These were the words from his interview
“We have to put everything that has happened in the past aside. We have won the title like this twice – there is no chance that the third time will be easy,”
“The problem is that it is easy to improve when you have been performing poorly previously. But now the bar is set extremely high for myself and my team.”
The new season in Bundesliga which kick starts on August 27th against Werder Bremen would be quite interesting. The signing of Marco Reus as a replacement for Kagawa in midfield leaves them packed with star Performers like Götze, Kevin Großkreutz,Jakub Blaszczkowski and Ivan Perisic. Rues who just had an excellent Tournament in the European Championship will be a real threat to their attack.
League Prediction: They are highly favourites to Retain the title for the 3rd consecutive year , There is a new spirit and passion amongst the players in the last couple of years which will surely carry them forward in the seasons to come .
Champions League prediction: Although a strong and young team, when it comes to the Champions League, experience is the real key. That was clearly shown in their last champions league campaign where they bundled out in the group stages. This year they would want to move further but anything beyond the round of 16 would be a real surprise