Soccer-Dortmund's title dreams in tatters after 'brutal' home draw to Mainz (updated)

Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co KgaA

27/05/2023 18:09

(Updates with Dortmund coach, player quotes)
       DORTMUND, Germany, May 27 (Reuters) - Borussia
Dortmund's dream of their first Bundesliga title in 11 years
turned into a nightmare on Saturday after a shock 2-2 home draw
to Mainz 05 dropped them to second place on goal difference in
the season finale, handed the title to rivals Bayern Munich.
    With a sea of tens of thousands of yellow and black-clad
fans outside the stadium and a sold-out 81,000 crowd inside
ready to pop the champagne for their first league crown since
2012, Dortmund went into the game in top spot.
    Dortmund had ordered more than 120,000 litres of beer
according to club bosses but in the end there was nothing to
celebrate for fans, players or coaching staff in one of the most
bitter season endings for the Ruhr valley club.
        "Congratulations to Bayern because this is the most
honest title, being top after 34 matches," a teary-eyed coach
Edin Terzic said. "Forgive me because it is not easy to give an
analysis today but I think that not only the team, but the
stadium and the city believed it.
  
        "But the legs were heavy after the two goals. You see
how tough and hard the sport is that we chose to love. It is
hard when you see only one goal is missing. There was no happy
end for us and hurts a lot.
  
        "Today is the toughest (sporting) moment you can imagine
and feels a bit unfair," he added. "This matchday will hurt for
a long time. This is now also part of our path. From tomorrow we
are 34 matches away from it again and we will stand back up."
  
        The visitors stunned Mainz snatching the lead through
Andreas Hanche-Olsen's header at the near post in the 15th
minute.
    Dortmund's Sebastien Haller had a golden chance to level and
lift some of the mounting the pressure on his team just four
minutes later but he saw his weak penalty saved.
    It got even worse in the 24th when Karim Onisiwo was left
with far too much space in the box to drill in his header,
shocking the hosts and silencing the stadium.
    A second half attempted comeback did not yield immediate
results, even as coach Edin Terzic brought in captain Marco Reus
and striker Karim Adeyemi.
    Mainz, playing without any pressure, made it hard for
Dortmund who needed to up the tempo further and cut the deficit
with Raphael Guerreiro's shot in the 69th.
    With the fans growing louder again the hosts poured forward
with substitute teenager Julien Duranville injecting new life
into Dortmund's game.
    They levelled deep in stoppage time with Niklas Suele but
ran out of time for a winner, with the players left lying on the
grass, their heads in their hands and tears in their eyes for
the missed title shot.
    "It is very difficult to process this today," said Dortmund
defender Mats Hummels. "This is a brutal disappointment today.
        "We should have finished this off but we didn't. The
next few days will be brutal. I can't really comprehend it."
  

 (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann
Editing by Christian Radnedge)
 ((karolos.grohmann@thomsonreuters.com; +491743343192;))