Talking Points from Borussia Dortmund 1-1 APOEL Nicosia

Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 draw against a lowly APOEL Nicosia side, which has all but confirmed the end of their Champions League campaign this season. Raphael Guerreiro opened the scoring for the hosts in the 29th minute, while Mickael Pote equalised for the visitors in the 51st minute as Dortmund failed to record their first UCL win this season, yet again.

Here are the major Talking Points from the draw:

Pressure Increasing on Bosz

Borussia Dortmund have now won only one of their last six games, with the sole win coming against third-tier side FC Magdeburg in the German Cup. The poor run of form has seen Bosz’s side fall to the second in the Bundesliga, and on current form, they’re unlikely to get back on the pole position any soon. With their best form coming in the league, Dortmund chiefs could’ve let the poor UCL run slip but now, with the team losing on all fronts, and with their UCL run about to end, it’ll be interesting to see what the club hierarchy will decide to do with the manager. With Heynckes rejuvenating their bitter rivals, this season is bound to become another failure barring a miraculous turnaround. Which looks unlikely, at least until Bosz is still at the helm.
They should learn something from their rivals at Munich. If they can turn around their season by changing their manager midway through, can Dortmund not do the same?

Dortmund Fail to Capitalise on Real Madrid’s loss

Elsewhere, European Champions Real Madrid were stunned 3-1 by Pochettino’s Tottenham at Wembley, courtesy of a brace from Dele Alli. And the loss meant that Real Madrid still have only seven points from four games, while Bosz’s side has a meagre two points. Had Borussia Dortmund managed to beat lowly APOEL this time, or better yet, both times, they could surely have had a good enough chance of going through to the next round. A win against Madrid and Zidane’s men failure to get all three points against APOEL could’ve seen Dortmund advancing at the expense of the champions. However, it’s all over now, as Real Madrid need just one point from the two remaining games and even if Dortmund win both their matches, they’re still bound to crash out owing to a far inferior goal difference.
Time to prepare for life in the Europa League, eh?

Are Dortmund ready for Bayern Showdown?

With Dortmund on a pathetic run of form, there couldn’t have been a worse time for them to face a top side, let alone league leaders Bayern Munich. Before the season started, many were predicting that this could finally be the season when the league title returns to Dortmund. However, in a matter of a few weeks, we’ve reached a point when even the gaffer’s job is under jeopardy.
Bayern will be full of confidence on their visit to the Westfalenstadion, and I think Dortmund could fall to a heavy defeat this Saturday. At least, that’s what the omens are suggesting.