Resurgent Dortmund seek consistency in topfour fight
Fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt tomorrow hoping to keep their noses in front in their battle to finish in the Champions League placings.
Dortmund sit one point ahead of fifth-placed Leipzig, having been six points behind the Saxons at Christmas.
Dortmund are a club heavily dependent on the income the Champions League brings, and have only missed the top four once in the past 13 years.
Tomorrow, they face the same opposition against whom their season started to unravel last October.
After a chaotic and pulsating 3-3 draw in Frankfurt, Dortmund lost four of their next nine as clouds gathered around the future of coach Edin Terzic.
Five months later and Dortmund look to have steadied the ship, having lost just one of their past 14 and reaching the Champions League last eight.
But their strong results have come despite wildly inconsistent form – sometimes during the same match.
Nowhere was this clearer than in Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League win over PSV Eindhoven, where Dortmund swung from having complete control to hanging on for dear life.
Terzic was at a loss to explain his side’s inconsistency, telling DAZN “we played the best 30 minutes we played this season. Then in the second half, we completely stopped playing.
“We’re happy about the first half and frustrated about the second.
“We need to turn this phase from the first 30 minutes into a 90-minute performance.”
One positive is the return to form of Jadon Sancho, who has scored in his past two games and is beginning to resemble the player who made a big-money move to Manchester United in 2021.
Sancho failed to deliver at United and spent the majority of this season banished from the first team after falling out with coach Erik ten Hag.
Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl could not resist a dig at Sancho’s parent club after the win on Wednesday, saying “having Jadon in the squad enriches every team.
“It is clear that he would need time.
“Now he’s rewarded himself with important goals.”