Barcelona Defeat Ends BVB’s Hopes for the Season
Having reached the Champions League last season, there was a sense of hope in the Borussia Dortmund camp heading into the 2024-2025 campaign.
Although Der BVB finished fifth in the Bundesliga, there was a degree of expectation on Nuri Şahin to improve on that as well as ensure that the club performed well again in Europe, perhaps even going one step further and winning it this time around.
The fact that he was sacked in January tells its own story of the season, which has now all but come to a close thanks to defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League.
Domestic Disappointment
On the domestic front, there were essentially two opportunities for Der BVB to achieve some success. Having underperformed in the Bundesliga in the 2023-2024 campaign, some mitigation was accepted for the fact that the club went great guns in the Champions League.
The main job of Nuri Şahin, therefore, was to try to get things back on track in the league whilst also mounting a strong campaign in the DFB-Pokal. It looked like he might be able to do just that when the club won two of their first three games, drawing the other, but four defeats in their next seven set the alarm bells ringing.
@footyreport What the hell happened to Borussia Dortmund 😭 #bvb #footballtiktok ♬ som original – BMH
Having seemingly righted things in November and December, disaster struck after the winter break as the club lost its first three games back. Having already been knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in October by VfL Wolfsburg, it meant that any sort of success looked extremely unlikely.
As a result, Die Schwarzgelben decided to sack Şahin and bring in Niko Kovač as his replacement, but the former Croatia national team captain didn’t do a whole lot better. He lost his first two Bundesliga matches after taking on the role on the second of February and soon everything rested on Champions League success.
Champions League Exit
Given the fact that Borussia’s Dortmund’s season essentially boiled down to success in the Champions League once it became clear that finishing in the Champions League places courtesy of the Bundesliga was all but impossible, it was cruel that the club had to make it past Barcelona.
Der BVB have come up against the Spanish giants on numerous occasions in the top European competition and failed to land a meaningful blow at any point, so it was a less than ideal scenario. Having made it past Sporting Lisbon and Lille to get into the quarter-finals, it was also going to be a big ask.
Our Champions League journey ends here—but what a battle, what a performance. Heads held high. 💛🖤 pic.twitter.com/kc0EFF3pmU
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) April 15, 2025
The tie was all but over by the end of the first-leg added insult to injury. The trip to the Nou Camp saw Der BVB 1-0 down at the break thanks to a goal from former Leeds United player Raphinha, whilst a Robert Lewandowski brace after the half-time break took the tie away from the previous year’s finalists. Lamine Yamal then added a fourth in the 77th minute to make an uphill battle an all but impossible one.
Die Borussen did give a good account of themselves in the second-leg and there were four goals scored, but a 3-1 scoreline saw them crash out of the competition.
What the Future Might Hold
Although it took Niko Kovač a bit of time to get going at the Westfalenstadion, he has been able to get the club playing some good football towards the end of the season. They sit just four points behind RB Leipzig with four games to go, meaning that we can’t rule out making the Champions League spots altogether in the remainder of the campaign.
That being said, they would need to make it past three teams if they were to enjoy that kind of success and that looks far too unlikely a scenario for anyone to get their hopes up about it genuinely happening in the remaining weeks.
It is very likely that Niko Kovac will be Borussia Dortmund’s coach next season. The team is playing more attractive football again, there are even “spectacular games” again. This development should be continued. The bosses like his work.
🗞 @BILD
#BVB
— BVB Newsblog (@bvb-newsblog.bsky.social) 21 April 2025 at 20:01
As a result, most people associated with the club have started to think about the future. The fact that Kovač has been able to get the club playing decent football again and even took the fight to Barcelona in the second-leg of their Champions League tie means that many in the upper echelons of the Westfalenstadion believe that he is the right man to take Dortmund forward next season.
With four games left of the campaign, the club has won three and drawn one of their previous four games, scoring 12 and conceding six. This season has been all but a write-off for Die Schwarzgelben, but the feeling is one of cautious optimism right now.
Then there is the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, of which Borussia Dortmund will be a part. Drawn in a group to play Brazilian side Fluminense, South Korean team Ulsan HD and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, the likelihood is that the club will progress to the knockout stage.
From there, it could be anyone’s competition, given the fact that no one has played in this new format of the tournament and there are some good teams taking part that will likely knock each other out. The possibility of silverware isn’t entirely over, even if the Club World Cup isn’t as prestigious as FIFA would like it to be.
