BVB

So I was all excited about getting to post a blog on BVB's awesome comeback in the Budesliga complete with pictures and everything since I went to the last two home games but it was all ruined on Saturday with a bit of bad luck but as it was fun while it lasted and I do have pictures, so I suppose I'll post anyway...


This year is very special for BVB because the club was founded in 1909 and is celebrating its centennial this season. BVB started out the season alright and then kinda just dropped off the radar. I still had faith in them and every once and a while they would surprise the hell outta me and I would think they were about to perform a miracle. I remember watching them play Bayern online before I left earlier this year and they scored about a minute into the game... only to conceded three more and blow the game. They seemed pretty helpless when I got here which was disappointing. I discovered that I could see Signal Iduna Park (the stadium where they play… the largest in Germany) from the kitchen window of my flat which was quite exciting and I have a ridiculous number of pictures of it. Soon after I arrived though, something happened and they just started to take off… they knocked Hertha Berlin off the top of the table… on the road… while I was on vacation in Berlin. It was awesome; there were so many people in yellow celebrating in Berlin that night! We kept winning games and then it came time to play Hamburg who was number three in the table and on fire because they had just knocked Manchester City outta the UEFA Cup and they had all of German on their side. We managed to beat Hamburg too and then I realized we’d lost a game.
I managed to get really cheap tickets with three of the other exchange students through a deal that McDonalds had for the 100th Anniversary Game. It was against Karlsruher and we won in blow-out fashion 4-0. That game also tied BVB’s club record for most consecutive wins (7). The next week we were on the road again to play Wolfsburg who had occupied the top of the table since we dethroned Hertha BSC. We didn’t play well and lost (failing to break the record) but it wasn’t a total disappointment because we were playing the number one team on the road and no one actually expected us to win anyway.

Jose and I at the Karlsruher game

The next week we hosted Bielefeld for the last Heimspiel (home game) of the season and I got to go again with some German friends I’d meet a few weeks earlier. It was Dede’s 300th game and they gave him an award before the game which was pretty cool. The game was completely awesome because BVB won 6-0! No other team in the Budesliga managed to score more than five goals the whole season… It was also the largest margin of victory the whole year (natürlich) because Wiedenfeller got the clean sheet. I also called the Tinga goal which was the first one scored after he was subbed in.
That home victory also secured our immaculate record in Dortmund going undefeated at home the whole year. After the game the players carried a large banner with them as they did their usual round of the stadium for the fans and it said “We’re for you and you’re for us. Thanks to the best fans in the league”. It was pure awesomeness! Both of the games I went to had over 80,000 people and seeing the yellow wall of the Süd Tribüne alive with my own eyes was indescribable. I also had goose bumps for a sold five minutes listening to all 80,000 sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” before the matches.

Süd Tribüne: Der gelbe Wand

After routing Bielefeld, we finally moved into the fifth spot on the table (exactly where we needed to finish to qualify for the UEFA Cup next year). Hamburg, who had fallen to sixth, was tied with BVB in points be we definitely had the tie breaker (goal differential) in hand (23-2) so as long as we won our last game, there was no way they could pass us. Also if Hamburg lost or if we both tied, we’d still finish in fifth. Naturally, they didn’t make it easy for us and won their last game. BVB was on the road for the last game against Mönchengladbach who was 15th on the table. Inches away from ending one of the most exciting and greatest comeback seasons ever, BVB only managed to put one in the net and ended up tying Mönchengladbach 1-1 allowing Hamburg to pass us and capture the fifth spot. So we will once again not be participating in the UEFA Cup next year, scheiße!
It was still a fun ride and I’m so glad I got to experience it –I mean, 100th season, c’mon, that’s awesome! Sunday they had a big party in Westfallenpark and Anne took me. Kloppo and most of the players were there and there was a lot of events going on… fußball matches, concerts, autographs, parties, drinking, dancing, skills competitions and a hundred thousand people in black and yellow… it was a lot of fun and definitely helped everyone get over that depressing ending of the season.