And in front helps the good Lord: Football fans in Dortmund’s Nordstadt got in the mood for the Bundesliga season finale with a BVB mass.

The baptismal font of the well-attended Dreifaltigkeitskirche was surrounded by large black and yellow flags at midday on Friday, and the faithful wore jerseys. They sang “We stand firm and faithful together” and “You “ll never walk alone”.

The Roman Catholic church is considered the “birth church” of Borussia Dortmund. The later founders of the club once met in the “Dreifaltigkeit” youth sodality, the parish’s youth organisation. They split the ball club from the church in 1909, after discussions about the crudeness of the game of football.

On Friday, the “BVB prayer” was also said again: “Good God, to you I entrust the fate of my football club Borussia Dortmund. The founders already stood here and prayed. I also want to treat the losers with respect and appreciation and thus promote fairness in sport. “