In the Bundesliga, Dortmund is languishing in tenth place in the gray midfield of the table, but they are shining on the European stage. After the 2-1 win in Lillie, the Westphalians are looking forward to a quarter-final against Barcelona. That it came to that was also due to a penalty kick in which BVB, not without good reason, spoke of luck of the draw.
After the 2-1 win in Lille, Dortmund coach Niko Kovac spoke on DAZN of a “great team performance and an absolutely deserved victory”. The “large number of chances” alone that they had created showed “that the team has quality and is made for such games”.
At half-time, it had not looked at all as though the team from Westphalia would win, as the hosts from France were leading 1-0 for a long time. However, Dortmund had a number of good chances in this open game, but needed a penalty to equalize. However, this caused a lot of discussion, as Serhou Guirassy went down after only light contact in the duel with Thomas Meunier.
Nico Schlotterbeck said that it was “difficult to see from behind” for him personally, but that he had seen Meunier’s reaction – “and it was that there was nothing going on. We gratefully accepted it, of course.” The Swiss referee Sandro Schärer pointed to the spot – a harsh decision, given the line he had previously shown.
Schlotterbeck was then also “glad that the referee blew the whistle. We made it in – and that turned the game around a bit.”
“We really deserved that bit of luck”
With regard to the penalty, sporting director Sebastian Kehl said that he thought there had been a “nudge”, but also admitted that he didn’t know for sure “whether it was a clear-cut penalty in the end. But if it hadn’t been, the VAR would have stepped in and corrected the decision. So I assume that you can give it.”
Kovac also said that the penalty decision was discretionary, but noted: “Ultimately, Serhou is through on his own – and if he touches him lightly, it’s a penalty. I’m not even sure if he tried to play the ball at all. If he didn’t, it would have been more than a yellow card. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. You need a bit of luck every now and then and we really earned that today.”
Looking forward to FC Barcelona
The fact is: Dortmund is one round further and will now face the great FC Barcelona. “We’ve already had them in the last few weeks, so it’s not an unknown team for us,” said Kehl, referring to the 2-3 defeat in the group stage, and emphasized that it “will be difficult.” Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel admitted that “we are definitely the underdog,” but was still looking forward to the clash because, “quarter-finals against Barcelona? There’s not much better than that.”
Schlotterbeck also touched on the Catalans’ qualities in his preview. “They have an incredibly dominant midfield with Pedri in particular. And in front, Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha – that’s quality that’s rarely seen in Europe.” Kovac added that the Blaugrana will ‘outdo Lille in terms of footballing ability many times over,’ but was still optimistic because ‘we also have good players, good opportunities and good speed to hurt the opponent.’
For Schlotterbeck, one thing is clear: “We have to prepare well – and I hope that we can keep it even and somehow end on a positive note for us.”
