Terzic bares coaching teeth at Dortmund before Chelsea visit. Borussia Dortmund’s 2023 start. It’s been great statistically, but BVB’s trajectories are rarely straight. Three weeks ago, their Champions League last-16 tie against Chelsea at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday would have looked like two well-heeled bald guys fighting over a comb. If Graham Potter needs to get regular results from the pricey talent he acquired in the January transfer window, the Westfalen sky is clear. Edin Terzic is finally finding stability. Saturday’s hard-fought win at Werder Bremen was Germany’s sixth straight win since the World Cup.
Terzic bares his coaching teeth at Dortmund before the Chelsea visit
This north triumph carved out with conviction, boosted the mood. Julian Brandt added, “We don’t get stuck in negative things anymore,” after his stylish second goal secured the deal. “We continue.” BVB never faltered in challenging circumstances.
It’s all so different from before Christmas, when they signed off for the World Cup break with straight humiliating defeats by Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach that plummeted them to sixth position, and from January’s resumption. The 4-3 win over Augsburg and the late win at Mainz were classic Dortmund moments of excellence rising above the mayhem.
Skittishness has turned into resolution. They could have lost this game a few months (or weeks) earlier against a home club bolstered by consecutive wins that had previously beaten their opponents this season. In exceptional circumstances, Werder won their first three points since returning to the top division in Dortmund in August. Ole Werner’s team rallied from 2-0 behind to win 3-2.
The worst mishap threatened to define Dortmund’s season, another lost campaign of promise undone by disorganisation. Recent outcomes and performances suggest a realisation. Terzic, a beloved and valued member of the club, is flashing his teeth. In Bremen, he substituted Salih Özcan and Jamie Bynoe-Gittins midway through the second half to protect his defenders and add some bite. Bynoe-Gittins scored BVB’s first goal 71 seconds after his entrance with a left-footed strike at Jiri Pavlenka’s near post.
