Personnel mattersAs in the last game of 2025 (2-0 win over Gladbach), Aaron Anselmino (muscle injury), Job Bellingham (suspension) and Rami Bensebaini (Africa Cup of Nations) are missing. But Gregor Kerber is back on the pitch, and Valdemar Anton, Marcel Sabitzer and Maximilian Bell have also rejoined the team after a short winter break.
ContestDespite temperatures just above freezing, both teams were up to speed from the start. Quickly bypassing the midfield after getting the ball is not just a tactic of SIPG. Dortmund also provided their forwards with plenty of through balls. It was a fierce game with many tackles, and Dortmund took the lead early: At the beginning of the game, Nico Schlotterbeck passed a diagonal pass to Julian Ryerson on the right. After Ryerson touched the ball for the second time, he passed the ball to the near post. Bell ran in and shot the ball into the right corner with his left foot, making the score 1-0 (10).
Frankfurt immediately stepped up their counterattack, and Uzun tested Kerber in the 17th minute. Shortly after, Tate threw in to Koch, who was hit in the thigh by Serhu Gilasi in the penalty area. Wu Zun made a free throw, rewriting the score to 1-1 (22). At the end of the first half, Dortmund had 57% ball possession and 7 shots, while the opponent only had 5 shots. Cava Santos saved Schlotterbeck’s header (40) and Brandt almost shot (45+2).
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Frankfurt came out of the locker room on fire. But Svensson had a chance to make the score 2-1 after receiving a wonderful pass from Brandt, but he was blocked by Tate in front of the goal, and his follow-up shot went slightly wide of the post (52). Subsequently, Seter blocked Sabitzer’s shot from the baseline (58), and Anton headed the ball into the goalkeeper’s arms (59). At the other end, Kerber had to pull out all the stops to deny Nov (54) between the two Dortmund chances. In the first 15 minutes after the game restarted, both teams had four shots, and then both scored the fifth goal! First, Felix Nmecha celebrated making it 2-1. Theat passed the ball to the Dortmund midfielder, who shot from 18 meters out. The ball deflected away from Larsson as it entered the back of the net and touched the left post as it entered the goal (68). Just three minutes later, Kalimundo passed the ball to Ebu Nutalib, who equalized the score 16 meters from the upper right corner, 2-2.
Svensson passed the ball, Kaua Santos made a mistake and almost caused an own goal (78). Brown stopped Tate and rewritten the score to 3-2. In the last minute of regular time, Schlotterbeck hit the crossbar with a header. The game then unfolded quickly: First, Dahoud appeared in the right place at the right time, helping Frankfurt lead 3-2 in stoppage time, seemingly declaring Dortmund’s defeat. But Kani Chukwumeka scored from Sabitzer’s cross to make the score 3-3 and deservedly earned a point (90+6).
prospect:Two home games follow: Werder Bremen on Tuesday (20:30 CET) and St. Pauli on Saturday (15:30 CET). Both games will be shown live on Sky.
Boris Rupert