Can Borussia Dortmund Break Their Bundesliga Duck This Season?

This year marked 10 years since Borussia Dortmund last won the Bundesliga title with their fierce Der Klassiker rivals Bayern Munich going on to win every single league title since, a tiring sight for fans of the German Bundesliga and especially to those who are fans of the Black and Yellows.

Ironically, Bayern’s lock on the Bundesliga title was more or less guaranteed once Robert Lewandowski made the controversial switch from the Signal Iduna Park to the Allianz Arena back in the summer of 2014 on a free transfer.

The 33-year-old Pole was instrumental in Dortmund’s success under Jurgen Klopp having helped guide them to back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2010/11 and 2011/12, as well as a DFB Pokal in the latter mentioned campaign. Once Lewandowski made the switch, he made it ni on impossible for his old side to compete via the sheer levels of performance he produced for Bayern.

During his time at Dortmund, Lewandowski managed to score 103 goals and create 43 assists in 187 games, but, somehow he managed to become an even more deadly striker at Bayern, finding the back of the net 344 times whilst setting up teammates on 72 occasions.

A notable highlight for Lewandowski was the Poles’ record-breaking Bundesliga goalscoring season of 41 goals in 29 matches back in 2020/21.

To further add to this, Lewandowski frequently came back to haunt his former club whilst playing for Bayern, scoring 27 and creating three assists against the Black and Yellows in 26 appearances.

Without these goal contributions, surely the gap between Bayern and the chasing pack will be significantly narrowed.

Dortmund’s Achilles heel has frequently been their defensive records in the Bundesliga, having leaked 52 in 34 matches last campaign as they finished eight points behind their fierce rivals.

The signings of Nico Schlotterbeck from Freiburg (€25 million) and Nicolas Sule on a free transfer from Bayern will surely improve their defensive record which was poor last season. On top of this, they have also attempted to replace the goal deficit left by Erling Haaland’s departure to Manchester City with the likes of Karim Adeyemi and Sebastien Haller, although the latter is ruled out for an extended period of time with illness.

Had Bayern known that Lewandowski was going to leave the club, Adeyemi would likely have been their main target due to the promise that he has shown at just 20 years old, having scored 23 goals and created seven assists in 43 appearances for Red Bull Salzburg last season.

The Black and Yellows have also managed to replace experienced midfielder Axel Witsel with highly rated Turkey international Salih Ozcan from FC Koln.

On top of this, Dortmund look to have kept hold of key players such as Giovanni Reyna and Jude Bellingham, potentially giving them a great chance of success in the near future.

The appointment of Edin Terzic could mark a turning point for Dortmund in their attempts to catch Bayern in the near future.

Marco Rose’s spell was incredibly disappointing following his move from Borussia Monchengladbach, as the 45-year-old only managed to win 27 of his 47 matches in charge, a win percentage of 57%.

Meanwhile, Terzic was Dortmund’s Interim Manager between December 2020 and June 2021, managing 32 matches, overseeing 20 wins and four draws, equating to a win percentage of 63%. The 39-year-old also managed to win the DFB Pokal in this time following a 4-1 win over RB Leipzig in the final, showing that he could be the one to get the most out of the team.