hangover, dry tank and adversity… Why Borussia Dortmund is not the most dangerous competitor for PSG

Placed in the “group of death”, Paris Saint-Germain begins its obstacle course in the Champions League. In a very dense group also including AC Milan and Newcastle, the French champion receives Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday September 19 as a first test. In the 2010s, the German club once again became a significant team in Europe. But 26 years after its surprise coronation in C1, the team is struggling to return to the European summits.

Coming from hat 2 in the draw, the Ruhr club is supposed to be the toughest opponent on paper. However, if the poster offers something to gauge PSG, it should not mask the limitations of Borussen, both in terms of their recent results and their model.

Because its dynamics are deceptive

A Bundesliga title lost on the last day in May, no defeat in an official match since the start of the season (three wins and two draws)… Everything could lead us to believe that the “Schwarz-Gelben” (Black and Yellow in German ) are on the ascending phase. But the missed opportunity to finally dislodge Bayern Munich in the German championship while the coronation was reaching out to them was experienced as a small trauma in the Ruhr.

“The two weeks following last season’s title loss to Mainz (2-2 at home when a victory ensured the title) were worse than after the Champions League final in 2013 against Bayern“, admitted club president Hans-Joachim Watzke on August 9. And the elimination in the round of 16 of the Champions League against a sick Chelsea did not help improve the season’s record.

The start of the new financial year is not really reassuring. Borussia dropped points against opponents of its caliber like Bochum (1-1), then the promoted Heidenheim (2-2), after leading 2-0 after a quarter of an hour of play. The 4-2 victory at Fribourg, last Saturday, was only assured thanks to two goals at the very end of the match at 11 against 10. The background of the game is worrying and has already provoked boos from its audience at Signal Iduna Park, usually so fervent.

Because it is no longer the nursery it was

Borussia Dortmund has made a specialty of bringing some of its greatest talents to the attention of European football. But in recent months, the fountain of youth has no longer flowed freely. One of the last vestiges of his bottle class, the Englishman Jude Bellingham, joined Real Madrid for more than 100 million euros in the last transfer market. And the next generation, the one that was the curiosity of the entire continent, is slow to appear.

In two seasons, the average age of the squad has aged by almost a year and a half, while Borussia proudly sits as the club of the five major championships to have entrusted the most playing time to players under of 20 years between 2018 and 2023 according to calculations by CIES, the Football Observatory. The squad still includes a few promising young players (Karim Adeyemi, Youssoupha Moukoko, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, or Giovanni Reyna) but with very limited impact. Of the ten players who have played the most since the start of the season, only two are under 25, far from this image of a nursery for small cracks.

Because Milan and Newcastle are at least as strong

PSG must still be wary of the one it beat in the round of 16 of C1 2020 in a special atmosphere, with a closed door linked to Covid-19 and thousands of supporters in front of the stadium. Borussia Dortmund has little choice but to quickly collect points. The field of this Group F leaves no margin for error, with AC Milan and Newcastle also on the program. Two adversaries with the strongest arguments.

The Milanese remained in a semi-final during the last Champions League, before being eliminated by the hated neighbor, Inter. And if the Nerazzurri also flew over the derby between the two clubs on Saturday in the championship (5-1), this hitch does not detract from the talent of coach Stefano Pioli’s team with the French internationals Mike Maignan and Olivier Giroud, or even the Former Lille player Rafael Leão.

Back in the Champions League for the first time since 2004, Newcastle is intriguing. The Premier League nouveau riche, after its takeover by a Saudi investment fund, has built a squad that is as talented as it is coherent. The Magpies finished fourth in the English championship last May, ahead of clubs like Liverpool and Tottenham and with the same number of defeats and goals conceded as champion Manchester City.