Why Dortmund Are so Much Better in the Champions League Than Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways on Wednesday night with an emphatic 4-0 win over Turkish opponents Galatasaray in their third Champions League game of the season. Yet, we all knew this was going to happen.

Following a somewhat surprising 2-0 win over Arsenal, a precise 3-0 dismantling of Belgian side Anderlecht and now a comprehensive away win in Turkey, Dortmund have managed to reach heights that they could only dream of in the German first division.

The most notable difference between Dortmund in Europe and Dortmund in Germany is the simple fact that they seem to care when they’re playing in the Champions League.

Although the black and yellows may look like a broken side in the Bundesliga, they have looked like the team of old that marched to the final of the illustrious competition in Wembley just a few years ago.

This could be down to a number of things. But perhaps the most obvious—or worrying for Dortmund fans—is the fact that these players are only playing well in the competitions that they actually care about.

Uncredited/Associated Press

With the Bundesliga all but wrapped up for another season before it has even got going, the wonder now is whether the mood within the Dortmund dressing room is to simply turn their attention towards the bigger fish in Europe.

As cynical as this may sound, it does explain the rather dismal and horrendously inconsistent campaign Jurgen Klopp’s team are currently undergoing in Germany—as well as the lack of respect the former champions have shown their league counterparts.

Where Dortmund have arrived at grounds across Germany almost expecting three points before kick-off at times this season, they have ventured across Europe and shown each opponent the due respect they deserve.

As we have seen in defeats at home to Hamburg and on the road to minnows such as Koln and Mainz, Klopp's team seem reluctant to get out of first gear against the lesser sides in Germany quite like they do in the bigger games in Europe.

Yes, Dortmund have had their injuries but each week has seen them put out a team that could beat one of the six clubs that have taken points from them in this season's Bundesliga. The skill, technique and quality is all there, but the drive to win such games is simply nonexistent. 

This could well be why Klopp’s side are 14th in the German top division and top of their Champions league group with nine points from nine.

Such a theory would then suggest that the enthusiastic coach is having real trouble getting through to his players like he has in the past.

Dortmund are famous for their enthusiasm and the manner in which each of Klopp’s stars would run through walls for him at a moment’s notice. If his current batch of prodigies are now only doing that half the time then it may suggest the manager’s magic touch is beginning to wash off.

This side simply transform whenever they play in Europe.

Uncredited/Associated Press

In defence, we saw a complete performance that had at its heart the partnership of Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic that made them German champions in the first place. Neither defenders have looked their best for years, except when that famous Champions League music begins playing through the tannoys. Then, and only then, do they look like their old selves.

Ilkay Gundogan in the middle of the park was everything it had been promising to be throughout the young player’s tortuously long injury and absence from the first team. He tackled, intercepted, dribbled and set up goals all in equal measure. He's still not fully fit but already a big step up from what Dortmund have had for much of this season.

It was then upfront, among the Marco Reuses and Henrikh Mkhitaryans of this world, that we saw the real glimpses of this great former side. Winding and weaving through the troubled Galatasaray side, we saw Dortmund attack with precision and ruthless conviction.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the inconsistent forward hired to replace Robert Lewandowski, has now managed to bag as many goals in three Champions League games as he has done in eight Bundesliga appearances. A sign, if ever, that Dortmund are firing on all cylinders across the continent this season.