Mertesacker glad BVB couldn’t equalise against Leipzig

ZDF pundit Per Mertesacker took stock of Borussia Dortmund’s DFB Cup exit. Marco Reus lamented: “Leipzig ate us up.”

It was the only real scoring chance for BVB on this cup evening – but with a strong save, goalkeeper Janis Blaswich prevented Jamie Bynoe-Gittens from saving Borussia Dortmund from extra time with his shot in the quarter-final at RB Leipzig.

It would have been a goal that would have completely turned the game on its head, the Black and Yellows coming up with three shots on goal during the 90 minutes, the Saxons with 20. “I’m glad,” said ZDF expert Per Mertesacker after the final whistle for Leipzig’s 2-0 (1-0), “that it didn’t turn out like that.”

The 2014 World Cup winner had already dismantled BVB at half-time when it was 1-0 to the hosts. “Unfortunately it’s only 1-0. Leipzig can only try to pull themselves together in the dressing room,” Mertesacker said. “Dortmund were a shadow of their former selves.” The 38-year-old was particularly critical of the defensive behaviour when Timo Werner scored. “Julian Brandt thinks to himself: should I go one-on-one? Nah, I don’t really want to.”

After Jamie Bynoe-Gittens’ great chance, Leipzig fended off the ensuing corner. Because BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who had prevented a much higher defeat that evening, had come forward with in injury time, RB drove a counterattack and Willi Orban shot the ball into the empty goal.

BVB coach Edin Terzic also called the first half “disastrous”, saying his team had been “nervous on the ball”. “We were surprised that there were duels – both offensively and defensively,” Terzic lamented.

Cup: RB Leipzig - BVB05 April 2023
Cup: RB Leipzig – BVB05 April 2023

Before Marco Reus had already commented. “In the first half they ate us up,” said the BVB captain, who was again weak, about the elimination. In the second half “it got better, but what we showed is of course far too little.” Julian Brandt was also horrified: “About our own inability. We didn’t deserve to win the game today,” stressed the international, “we were extremely lucky today that we even survived the first ten minutes with a goal against. “