{"id":904178,"date":"2026-09-21T14:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T14:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/904178\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T14:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T14:24:12","slug":"ghosts-of-2023-quelled-after-dortmund-return-to-the-bundesliga-summit-bundesliga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/904178\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghosts of 2023 quelled after Dortmund return to the Bundesliga summit | Bundesliga"},"content":{"rendered":"

Borussia Dortmund would probably rather not think about the last time that they topped the Bundesliga. It was in May 2023, just before all their dreams imploded<\/a>, with black and yellow Deutscher Meister t-shirts \u2013 \u2018German champions\u2019 \u2013 for sale on the approach to Signal Iduna Park and cold beers at the ready. Now, that is no longer the most recent time Dortmund have led the pack.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s four games, four wins to start this season and the Niko Kovac workout plan is hitting the spot. Saturday night\u2019s single-goal win at Stuttgart<\/a> was a game that had the gravitas of a true Topspiel, if not quite the entertainment value of one. Kovac\u2019s fingerprints were all over it. The conversation of whether his view of the game fits with BVB\u2019s swashbuckling image will no doubt continue, but this was a case in point to show just how good Kovac has been for the club, and for the team.<\/p>\n

Dortmund had taken four points from the two games against Sebastian Hoeness and his Stuttgart<\/a> team last season \u2013 and just as Kovac will not be oblivious to criticism of his side\u2019s style, nor is Hoeness to whispers about his impressive team\u2019s waning record against direct rivals \u2013 but were hardly overwhelmingly impressive either. It had been a huge improvement on the 2024-25 encounters with Stuttgart, in which BVB had been well beaten, twice, once under the short reign of Nuri Sahin and once in Kovac\u2019s first game in charge, at which point he must have realised the mountainous task ahead of him.<\/p>\n

Here, in September 2026, was the clearest of markers of how far Dortmund have come under the former Croatia midfielder and how deeply his ideas have taken root. To see a Dortmund patient, poised and defensively competent enough to grind this game out is still a novelty, and they didn\u2019t have a shot on target until Maximilian Beier prodded in the winner from an inviting ball in by substitute Jobe Bellingham. That Dortmund dealt with everything the home side had in response, with street smarts and limited fuss, was laudable. They made a very accomplished attacking forced look ordinary. \u201cIn a top match,\u201d Stuttgart\u2019s Hoeness later reflected, \u201cdecent and okay aren\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

That Bellingham and Beier combined for the goal was noteworthy too; the former frequently rubbished for not being the equal of his generationally-talented elder brother and the latter another player who is simply underrated, both were brought in for big money and accordingly viewed with little patience. Their adaptability was striking, with Bellingham impacting off the bench and Beier thriving in a more advanced role. They are both Kovac\u2019s type: young, willing, athletic and adaptable.<\/p>\n

Niko Kovac has been in charge of Borussia Dortmund since January 2025. Photograph: Ulrik Pedersen\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Should we call Dortmund contenders? That is, perhaps, a bit strong. But there is talk is about reducing the 16-point gap to Bayern that remained at the end of last season, and there were signs here that they may, at least, be capable of that. \u201cIt\u2019s about annoying Bayern a bit\u201d, is how Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken framed it, following the win at Stuttgart.<\/p>\n

Dortmund were never going to return to relevance and consistency by trying to relive the J\u00fcrgen Klopp years, or by trying to ape Bayern (and yes, both of those approaches have been attempted). To get into the position where they can face the hurt (and potential rewards) of 2023 all over again will take a while, and doesn\u2019t just depend on them \u2013 it will take Bayern falling down a rung or two. They are at least climbing the right ladder though, slowly, steadily, and diligently.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideBundesliga resultsShow<\/p>\n

Bayern Munich 7-0 Union Berlin, Stuttgart 0-1 Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen 3-2 Augsburg, Hamburg 2-1 K\u00f6ln, Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Freiburg, Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach 3-4 Mainz, Paderborn 3-1 Hoffenheim, Schalke 0-0 Elversberg, Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 RB Leipzig<\/p>\n

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Talking points<\/p>\n

It was only a matter of time and it was probably always going to happen against an ailing Union Berlin, who are enduring a horrible start to the season, but Harry Kane reached 100 Bundesliga goals<\/a> on Friday night in his 98th game, so much faster than anyone in the league\u2019s history. His double was almost a footnote on a night as Michael Olise scored a dazzling hat-trick, with Jamal Musiala and Isma\u00ebl Saibari also netting their first league goals of the season in a 7-0 shellacking. It was a good start to the club\u2019s traditional celebration of Oktoberfest weekend.<\/p>\n

Bayern later mourned Peter Hermann, Jupp Heynckes\u2019 popular assistant in the 2013 treble-winning season, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 73. Hermann was also emotionally commemorated at Leverkusen before kick-off on Sunday, having played in their 1979 promotion-winning team and having later served as assistant to Klaus Toppm\u00f6ller at the helm of the celebrated 2002 Champions League finalists. Die Werkself paid fitting tribute on the field too as they beat RB Leipzig 2-0. The margins were fine, with Christopher Nkunku having an opener ruled out for the visitors before Patrik Schick put the home side ahead from a Miguel Guti\u00e9rrez cross. Guti\u00e9rrez, \u00c1lex Grimaldo\u2019s nominal replacement, scored the second himself. Carles Mart\u00ednez praised his team for \u201cgood balance between keeping the ball and playing forward\u201d, while his opposite number Mart\u00edn Demichelis has plenty to think about after a fourth straight away defeat.<\/p>\n

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Bayer Leverkusen players and fans hold a minute of silence for Peter Hermann. Photograph: Martin Meissner\/AP<\/p>\n

Never before had a team scored three times in successive Bundesliga<\/a> home games and lost both of them but Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach are managing to find a ledge beneath the edge. Gladbach made a bright start against Mainz (who are under interim coach Jan-Moritz Lichte) \u2013 with Florian Neuhaus scoring the opener on his return to the line-up, his first since May 2024 \u2013 but ended in defeat again, leaving them bottom, without a point. Alexander Blessin, a former St Pauli coach famed for his defensive work, is expected to arrive in an attempt to plug the leaks.<\/p>\n

Hamburg had gone into matchday four pointless and goalless but managed to squeeze past a K\u00f6ln side who dominated them, with Yussuf Poulsen\u2019s second goal for the club since arriving in summer 2025 proving decisive. It was an endorsement of their faith in head coach Merlin Polzin, who signed a contract extension this week despite that bad start and successive 5-0 defeats.<\/p>\n

There are comebacks and there are comebacks, and several coincided on the Weser as Werder Bremen continued their surprisingly good start to the season. They trailed 2-0 to Wolfsburg but were level after a Niclas F\u00fcllkrug netbuster but even better was around the corner, with Mitchell Weiser rattling in a perfect left-foot winner, deep into stoppage time, in his first home appearance after 16 months out with injury. It brought the former Bayern man to tears and his coach Daniel Thoune described it as \u201ca goosebump moment\u201d.<\/p>\n

All three promoted teams now have a win after Paderborn\u2019s shock victory over Hoffenheim in Sunday\u2019s late game, with veteran substitute Steffen Tigges sealing it with a header for his first top-flight goal since 2024. It was a third loss in four for Hoffenheim, who also suffered an embarrassing Europa League reverse at OFI Crete on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Borussia Dortmund would probably rather not think about the last time that they topped the Bundesliga. It was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-904178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}