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BVB faces more significant issues than a few understandable boos aimed at Nico Schlotterbeck

After BVB’s 0-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, players and staff are mostly concerned about the sporadic boos aimed at Nico Schlotterbeck. It is commendable that they are closing ranks to defend him, but this solidarity also masks a troubling drop in team morale.

Borussia Dortmund’s players and officials quickly closed ranks after the 0–1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, publicly backing Nico Schlotterbeck and condemning the isolated boos he received during the team announcement and the game.

Any other response would have been surprising and, more importantly, counterproductive. Closing ranks, presenting a united front and shielding Schlotterbeck from the backlash as a team—or, as manager Niko Kovac put it, “as Borussians”—is one thing.

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The backlash against the boos—isolated and, from the fans’ perspective, entirely understandable—was not only unduly harsh (“that’s not on,” said managing director Carsten Cramer; “absurd,” declared defender Waldemar Anton); it also overshadowed far more significant issues that deserved discussion that afternoon.
After all, Dortmund are now letting this season peter out rather badly.
True, BVB remain a very strong second-placed side: they have lost only twice in the league—to the soon-to-be champions Bayern Munich and, most recently, to Bayer Leverkusen, whom they had already beaten in the Cup. The football has rarely been a joy to watch, yet the results and, crucially, the much-vaunted mentality have delivered the goods. The loss to Bayer Leverkusen, who are chasing a Champions League spot, does nothing to change that. It is understandable, given the Bundesliga table has been set in stone for weeks—Bayern Munich are too far ahead, while RB Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart sit right behind—that the side is no longer fighting with every ounce of energy to avoid defeat.
Yet one big ‘but’ remains: the gradual drop in intensity is beginning to look worrying.

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At VfB Stuttgart and against HSV, BVB were bailed out by their substitutes.
In Stuttgart last week, BVB appeared content with a goalless draw until deep into stoppage time; the team showed little appetite for victory. The最终2–0 win was solely down to the impact subs Karim Adeyemi, Julian Brandt and Fabio Silva, who created and converted the goals respectively in their quest for more playing time. That impact earned Brandt and Silva starts against Leverkusen, and Brandt was among Dortmund’s better performers in the narrow 1–0 loss.
Even the 3-2 comeback win over Hamburger SV before the international break, after falling 0-2 behind, owed more to Niko Kovac’s substitutes Ramy Bensebaini and Fabio Silva than to a collective improvement.
Against Leverkusen, Dortmund started brightly and controlled much of the play without carving out clear chances inside the box. After going behind to an unfortunate goal, however, there was no sign of a fightback in the second half—quite the opposite. The fact that both sets of fans fell silent because of a medical emergency in the stands seemed to affect the BVB players more than the earlier boos directed at Schlotterbeck, who, in fairness, had performed reasonably well. But that’s a side note.
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BVB: Is this Dortmund side truly a Niko Kovac team?
“The German champions haven’t been decided yet,” Niko Kovac stated as recently as Thursday. Mathematically, he explained, anything remains possible—both in terms of climbing the table and slipping down it. A born realist, Kovac was not implying that, with a fluke or two, his side might still overhaul Bayern.
Nor did he suggest that a top-four finish—still not mathematically certain after the loss to Leverkusen—was suddenly at risk. His real target was to guard against the kind of slump in intensity his side showed against Leverkusen, and earlier versus VfB Stuttgart and Hamburger SV.
One of Kovac’s greatest achievements this season is that the much-feared debate in Dortmund—often paralysing and ultimately fruitless—about the team’s mentality never even started. Their possession play has sometimes lacked imagination, yet Kovac has instilled a refusal to surrender, a trait that papered over deeper issues until recently. Now, another slip-up this Saturday at TSG Hoffenheim could still hand Bayern the title early.
While Dortmund may not lose sleep over Bayern’s title party, if this BVB side truly wants to carry the Kovac mantle, it must attack Saturday’s trip to Hoffenheim with the same fire it showed when rebuking fans for booing Nico Schlotterbeck.