Bundesliga – Update: Different numbers, but the same positions. Bayern and Dortmund off to a so-so (by their standards) start, while everyone wonders if Leverkusen and Stuttgart can keep it up. Bayern Match and Newcastle away are included below. Plan now to be at LA Draught on Saturday, 4 November, at 10:30am.
Champions League – It will be all about Newcastle, and hopefully we can peak at the right time. Winning the home leg seems like a must at this point.
Pokal – It will be Hoffenheim at home on Halloween. At least something we know we can handle, and things have shifted for Hoffenheim since our last meeting.
04.10 WedBorussia Dortmund vs Milan – 12 noon, Paramount+
07.10 Sat Borussia Dortmund vs Union Berlin – 6:30am, ESPN+
20.10 Fri Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen – 11:30pm, ESPN+
25.10 Wed – Newcastle United vs Borussia Dortmund – 12 noon, Paramount+
28.10 Sat Frankfurt vs Borussia Dortmund – 7:30am, ESPN+
31.10 Tue Borussia Dortmund vs Hoffenheim – 10am, ESPN+ POK
04.11 Sat Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern München – 10:30am, ESPN+
07.11 Wed – Newcastle United vs Borussia Dortmund – 9:45am, Paramount+
OK, kind of a tough group. Not because the other teams are particularly good, but because all of the teams are so tightly grouped in quality.
Amazing to see how low PSG has fallen, and, of course, they always suck in UCL. Newcastle are up there based on last seasons results, but they are probably not that good. AC Milan is probably fairly ranked, but Dortmund…well…we all seen their recent form. So here’s September:
01.09 FriDortmund vs FC Heidenheim – 11:30am, ESPN+ 2-2
16.09 Sat Freiburg vs Dortmund – 6:30am, ESPN+
19.09 Tue Paris SG vs Dortmund – 12:00pm, Paramount +
23.09 Sat – Dortmund vs VfL Wolfsburg – 6:30am, ESPN+
It’s been a disappointing first half, starting with Sebastian Haller’s diagnosis, continuing through more injuries (Reus, Dahoud, Reyna, Bynoe-Gittens). Some players have still not lived up to their promise, most notably Malen and Adeyemi.
The result is we are sitting at 6th in the table, 4 points off Frankfurt at 4th, 9 points off Bayern at 1st.
Long time fans will recognize this as not so bad. They will look back to 2015 (aka Klopp’s last season) when we fought to get to 7th; or maybe 2018 when Peter Bosz took us to the bottom of the league, and Peter Stöger brought us back to 4th.
In other competitions, we are well in the running with winnable draws. On February 8 we play VfL Bochum in the Pokal Round of 16. On February 15 we play Chelsea at home in the UCL Round of 16.
The Good New
We now head into the Rückrunde (plus a few) well rested, with injured players coming back into the mix, and a favorable schedule. Outside of the fact that Haller will probably not see action for a while, it appears that all players are back for Marbella.
Bayern is scrambling to shore up their defense with Lucas Hernández and Manuel Neuer out. Chelsea is in the middle of an historic losing streak and a massive injury crisis (Mount, Sterling, Fofana, James…).
No obvious meetup dates through January and February. Maybe we can sort something out for Chelsea on February 15. I have a feeling that will be a fun match.
OK, stealing titles from Star Wars now. Mea Culpa! We can all feel the difference this season and most of us are feeling optimistic. Let’s review:
Players out: Erling Haaland, Steffen Tigges, Roman Bürki, Marvin Hitz, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Axel Witsel, Marcel Schmelzer, Reinier, Marin Pongracic.
I liked Bürki and Hitz, I was sad that Zags couldn’t get over his injuries. That’s about it. Haaland always seemed like a sideshow to me, taking the focus away from the team. Maybe that’s just me being salty. Rumors are abounding about Akanji, about Rapha, about Schulz, about Hazard. Can’t say what will happen, but (at least) Rapha has been a favorite from the beginning. Would hate to see him go.
Players in: Karim Adeyemi, Nico Schlotterbeck, Salih Özcan, Niklas Süle, Jayden Braaf, Alexander Meyer, Sebastian Haller.
Can you feel the defense? Nico and Süle lined up in front of Kobel? Özcan in Defensive Mid? A back three with Hummels?
…and the offensive possibilities? Adeyemi will be a star no matter where he lines up. Malen will feed off that sort of creativity. Haller will be a center target like all Dortmund strikers of the past.
July 2022
July 05, 10am, Tue: Lüner SV vs Borussia Dortmund (PRE)
July 09, 8am, Sat: Dynamo Dresden vs Borussia Dortmund (PRE)
July 14, 9am, Thu: Verl vs Borussia Dortmund (PRE)
July 15, Fri: Training Camp – Bad Ragaz (PRE)
July 18, 10am, Mon: Borussia Dortmund vs Valencia (PRE)
July 22, 10am, Fri: Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal (PRE)
July 29, 11:45am, Fri: 1860 München vs Dortmund (POK1)
A great bunch of pre-season matches this year. Valencia and Villareal should give us a good idea what Terzic is thinking. Then our first trip to München for the season. Not the match we were anticipating, but a solid Pokal opener.
The Bundesliga opener will be our first chance for a meetup:
Aug 06, 9:30am, Sat: Dortmund vs Bayer Leverkusen (BUN1)
This season, as last season, we’ll meet at LA Draught on Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica. Let’s get a crowd out.
We did it! First contacted in January and hosting Borussia Dortmund in May. Thanks again to Sebastian Schneider, Carsten Cramer, Annika Gollub, Benedict, Rich Orosco, Patrick Aviles, and everyone in BVBLA. We turned out quite a crowd.
Three Years
It was the Winter of 2014 and two of us got together to watch a match. The team was headed for the Relegation Zone and Klopp would soon announce his leaving. Nobody could accuse us of being bandwagon fans.
We’ve met at Wirtshaus, The Cock ‘n’ Bull, The Scarlet Lady and Ye King’s Head; but we’ve always considered Wirtshaus to be our home.
We’ve sent our Roster to Dortmund with all of our club information for three years. We never heard back from them…until this year. This will be the year that Borussia Dortmund breaks into the USA.
Borussia Dortmund and LAFC
Carsten, Deike, Steven, Marion, Liam, Dmytro, Joseph, Julia
We were contacted in January by the BVB Fan Department. They were planning an event with LAFC to announce a partnership. Could we get our Club to turn out? Of course we could. So we all went downtown and got some wonderful news.
Three Days
From there we waited. We would get our own section, but when? We would get a chance to meet the players, but what would that be? Most importantly: when will the match be scheduled? At first we were expecting July, during a break in the ICC schedule. Then we were told late May, but the Pokal Finale date had to be reserved.
When the date was finally settled we had three weeks to plan, with dates and times not yet settled for flights, parties, training or ticket sales.
Meet The Flight
We had to meet the flight. We were prepared for 3pm on a Sunday. Then the flight was delayed for four hours. Could we still get out a crowd?
Of course we could. Banners, singing and pestering Mario for autographs.
Monday
Monday started at 11 with a Public Training at UCLA. Every player was there and we turned out 400 or so fans. The players were open to autographs and took the time to meet everyone.
Next was Niky’s in Santa Monica. Originally planned for 40 people, everyone got in eventually and (I think) dropped some cash on some BVB gear while watching a Q&A with Lars Ricken, Roman Weidenfeller, Marcel Schmelzer and Mario Götze.
Monday night was the Fan Party hosted by LAFC and Dortmund. At least 100 of us made it to watch Alicia play Foosball with Schmelle. They didn’t win, but it was OK. We all had a few beers and got to chat with Schmelle, Roman and Patrick Owomoyela.
The Match
Finally, the day of the Match. No events, players all surfing or wandering around in Venice. Before the match the 125 and 126 sections were full. Steven Boll had prepared the megaphone and the chanting began. At 6:51pm it was “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and at 7pm it was game time. How was the match? Best game ever!
Thanks again to everyone who helped make this happen!
The Borussia Dortmund Los Angeles Fan Club wants to thank everyone involved in last nights festivities: Carsten Cramer (BVB), Annika Gollub (BVB), Rich Orosco (LAFC), Patrick Aviles (LAFC) and especially all the members of the 3252. Thanks for all the drumming and singing!
So…what was all the excitement? Borussia Dortmund has arrived in the US and are looking to make a big splash. They have worked with LAFC from the beginning; from Stadium design to team culture. With the Banc California Stadium almost finished and LAFC acquiring players (and a Manager) for the next MLS season, the time was right for the big announcement:
Borussia Dortmund will play a friendly with LAFC to open the new stadium.
Of course, there’s even more:
There will be Fan Events to meet the players
Emma and Nobby Dickel will be here
Dortmund will play two matches in the US ICC (TBA)
The BVB U19 will be in Los Angeles for a mini-Tournament
Carsten, Evita, Deike, Steven, Marion, Liam, Dmytro, Julia, Joseph
…and BVBLA will be in the middle of all of it. Please sign up for the mailing list and like us on Facebook to be kept up to date as these events unfold.
When the date is announced we will be preparing a list for tickets. The LAFC fans will fill the North Wall. Fittingly, we’ve been offered the South Wall. We’ll need 2000 or so dressed in Yellow and Black, and ready to rock!
The last event of the season held at our favorite Restaurant. This is the last time to see the team that Tuchel built in action. Join us for beer and schnitzel and Miki and Auba and Marco and Shinji and…
It seems like every week I’m saying “this is the biggest match of the season.” Well…this is the biggest match of the season. There is no reason that we shouldn’t beat Liverpool and move on to the semi-finals, but…
This Event will be televised at Wirtshaus on La Brea and at the Cock’n Bull in Santa Monica. Most of us have to take some time off from work on Thursdays and will choose the most convenient pub.
A different sort of season for Hamburg as they are not in danger of relegation. Meanwhile, Dortmund are having the best season in history and are not going to win the BL. All we can do is enjoy it.
Join us in Santa Monica before sunrise for Scottish Breakfast and coffee. Guinness if you can handle it 🙂
