After a dominating performance against Newcastle in the Champions League, which propelled Borussia Dortmund to the top of their group, hopes were high as Edin Terzić’s side looked to bounce back from their Der Klassiker defeat in the Bundesliga. However, on Saturday afternoon, Stuttgart ran rampant over yet another dismal Dortmund display.
Die Roten overwhelmed BvB drastically with 22 shots to their five, which saw them generate an xG of 4.22. Meanwhile, Dortmund could only muster up an xG of 0.96 as they nearly hung on for what would have been an undeserved point.
However, summer signing Niclas Füllkrug decided not to shy away after the game, commenting to Sky Germany: “Of course it was deserved. We didn’t get access to the game at all and missed a lot of things. We may not have had the perfect approach to playing the game today.”
The former Werder Bremen striker then added: “We tried. You just notice, and unfortunately, you have to admit it so honestly, that we sometimes have our limitations shown against us by many good teams. You then just have to admit that this team is currently perhaps a 2-1 result better than us, although, in my opinion, we have the material to be better.”
Understandably, this could come across as a slight criticism of head coach Edin Terzić, who would contradict the comments made by his star striker. The 41-year-old fired back: “I only go along with it to a limited extent. With the same formation, we proved against Newcastle a few days ago that we can do things differently.”
It is clear to see that Dortmund’s lacklustre start to the season has led to tension rising in the camp once again after it had looked to pass over after a disappointing start to the campaign. However, while results continue to go against Die Schwarzgelben, frustration amongst the squad will remain.
GGFN | Will Shopland
