Ugh. Last weekend, the Bundesliga title race ended, all but officially. Today, Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League campaign ended. Officially. Despite going into the match with a 2-0 aggregate lead, Dortmund crapped the bed under pressure, with defensive miscue after defensive miscue from every single member of the back line, which I’m sure whichever cursed individual […]
about 13 hours ago | 0 reads
When: 12:45 PM EST Where: Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Italy How: Paramount Plus (US), DAZN1 Germany (Germany), TNT Sports 3 (UK). Everywhere else here. Here are the rules:
about 16 hours ago | 0 reads
Last week, Borussia Dortmund gave their Champions League ambitions a huge boost with a 2-0 win against Atalanta at home at the Westfalenstadion. Now, they must finish the job and shepherd out an aggregate win away in Bergamo, with anything closer than a two-goal defeat guaranteeing a trip to the Champions League Round of 16. […]
about 17 hours ago | 0 reads
The Daily Bee comes to you a little late tonight because I had a busy day at work followed by getting too engrossed in the Inter Milan vs FK Bodø/Glimt game. Bodø/Glimt have been one of the best stories of the Champions League this season, giving a great account of themselves in the league phase, […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
Good morning, Fear the Wall. This is a grueling week for BVB, with ramifications that will determine how the season finishes out. A perfect English week would see BVB defeat RB Leipzig, advance past Atalanta in the Champions League, and defeat Bayern Munich at the Westfalenstadion to reignite the title race. BVB stumbled out of […]
3 days ago | 0 reads
Fabio Silva’s game-tying goal struck the net four minutes into the seven-minute stoppage time, stunning Red Bull Arena and sending the visiting Borussia Dortmund fans into a frenzy. It was electric. It was dramatic. It was, at best, questionably deserved. And most importantly, it was not enough. Trailing Bayern Munich nine points in the table […]
3 days ago | 0 reads
Luck be on Dortmund’s side for this match. Leipzig came out of the gates flying, with the unstoppable Yan Diomande wreaking havoc on the hastily assembled Dortmund backline. Luca Reggiani and Julian Ryerson looked helpless against his silky dribbles, and by the half, Leipzig was up by two and could easily have had more. The […]
5 days ago | 0 reads
When: 12:30 PM EST Where: Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany How: ESPN Select (US), Sky Sport Bundesliga 1 (Germany), Sky Go UK and Sky Sports Football (UK). Everywhere else here. Here are the rules:
5 days ago | 0 reads
A little late on the thread tonight, but better late than never. I spent most of the day fixing some very silly issues with Predicting Ball. You fix one thing, then it breaks something else. But it’s fixed now! I’m sure you’re all outraged that you had nowhere to discuss the exciting 1-1 between Mainz […]
5 days ago | 1 read
I’m not kidding, get up from where you’re sitting right now, close your eyes, and go for a trust fall. Luca Reggiani will find a way to catch you… probably. Okay, maybe that’s a slight oversell but you have to remember, as of recently, he’s been busy playing Champions League football. That takes up a […]
6 days ago | 0 reads
Borussia Dortmund are heading east to Leipzig for a must-win Bundesliga match if Niko Kovac’s side wants to continue their title chase. Leipzig, once the proud home of SSV Markranstädt, is now home to sports drink conglomerate Redbull GmbH’s RasenBallsport Leipzig. Unfortunately for Dortmund, The Cans are actually very good at soccer. It’s been far […]
6 days ago | 0 reads
On November 10th, I published an article titled, Dortmund Need More From Maximilian Beier. In that article, I laid out a case that Maximilian Beier’s struggles were seriously hurting BVB’s season, being partially responsible for the club’s offensive struggles. Here’s what I wrote: Last season, [Beier] got off to a very slow start but ultimately […]
7 days ago | 0 reads
After forcing Daniel Svensson to play almost every minute this season, Borussia Dortmund have finally secured left-back depth. 17-year-old Kauã Prates will be joining Borussia Dortmund from Cruzeiro this summer. The Brazilian left-back made his professional debut at 16 and has played just shy of 900 minutes across the last year-and-a-half. Despite his relatively brief […]
7 days ago | 0 reads
With a thoroughly dominant 2-0 win over Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund hold a critical advantage ahead of a massive reverse fixture in Bergamo next week. Goals from Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier, backed up by a strong defensive effort, resulted in a big victory and a clean sheet that sets the club up nicely to advance […]
8 days ago | 1 read
Borussia Dortmund put in an excellent performance tonight, beating Atalanta 2-0 and giving themselves an excellent chance of progressing to the Champions League knockout stages. Despite coming into the first leg of the Champions League play-offs with barely any centre-backs and a bench full of local children, BVB comfortably outplayed Atalanta and put themselves in […]
8 days ago | 2 reads
From afar, BVB looks to be having a great campaign. They’ve collected 51 points in 22 Bundesliga games and are still alive in the Champions in February. But if you zoom in, you’ll still notice missed opportunities after missed opportunities. In the Bundesliga, four second-half blown leads (three of which were in the 89th minute […]
8 days ago | 1 read
When: 3:00 PM EST Where: Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany How: CBS Sport Network & Paramout+ (US), TNT Sports 3 & Discovery+ (UK), Amazon Prime Video (Germany). Everywhere else here. Here are the rules:
9 days ago | 1 read
We have entered the crucial stretch of Borussia Dortmund’s season. Over the next week and a half, Dortmund will face Atalanta at home, RB Leipzig away, Atalanta away, and Bayern Munich at home. Tomorrow’s match against Atalanta is pivotal for any hopes to reach the UCL round of 16 – and the lofty revenue that […]
9 days ago | 2 reads
Dominating the ball from the first minute to the very last has been rare this season, perhaps even non-existent. This type of performance, where instead of trying to keep the ball far from Kobel, we play in the opposition’s field, is, of course, a Dortmund fan favorite, and this Friday night was special. From Ryerson’s […]
12 days ago | 1 read
A little late to get the Bundesliga thread out but I thought I should set something up for the Bayern Munich game that just kicked off. I’m not feeling particularly optimistic about Werder Bremen’s chances of pulling the upset, and Predicting Ball agrees, giving Bremen a 9.4% probability of winning (though a 25.1% probability of […]
12 days ago | 1 read
There’s something strange occurring in Dortmund. Typically, if you told me that Borussia Dortmund played Mainz in a match involving three set-piece goals, I would assume the match ended 3-1 for Mainz and they brought Jude Bellingham onto the field at full-time to cry for nostalgia’s sake. Instead, Dortmund actually scored three set pieces. You […]
12 days ago | 1 read
Soccer is a very simple game. 22 players run around a field and the team that crowds around the goalkeeper during set-pieces walks away with three points! As fans across the world reject modern soccer’s use of set pieces to change the game, Niko Kovac embraces modernity with a macabre infatuation. Dortmund have actually learned […]
12 days ago | 1 read
We’ve got some Friday night football! Borussia Dortmund will look to close the gap to the top of the table to just three points with a win against Mainz tonight, piling as much pressure on Bayern Munich as possible in the process. Mainz won’t go quietly, though. Die Nullfünfer have been in great form recently, winning four […]
13 days ago | 1 read
For a brief moment last weekend, the Bundesliga title race felt like a reality. Borussia Dortmund came away with all three points against Wolfsburg, and fans had talked themselves into Hoffenheim being ready to do Dortmund a favour in Munich. Just as everyone was starting to get their hopes up about a title fight becoming […]
13 days ago | 1 read
Niko Kovac’s Borussia Dortmund are on pace for a phenomenal season, and it’s all thanks to the club’s stellar defensive record. BVB have only conceded 20 goals in 21 Bundesliga games. Without this, the squad’s comparatively paltry offensive numbers would be nowhere near good enough to have them anywhere close to a title challenge. This […]
13 days ago | 0 reads