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Borussia Dortmund Mid Season Review

By Brian Szlenk Straub

Dortmund's players greet supporters as they celebrate after winning their the German first division Bundesliga football match Borussia Dortmund v RB Leipzig in Dortmund, western Germany, on August 26, 2018. (Photo by SASCHA SCHUERMANN / AFP) / RESTRICTIONS: DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO (Photo credit should read SASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP/Getty Images)
Dortmund's players greet supporters as they celebrate after winning their the German first division Bundesliga football match Borussia Dortmund v RB Leipzig in Dortmund, western Germany, on August 26, 2018. (Photo by SASCHA SCHUERMANN / AFP) / RESTRICTIONS: DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO (Photo credit should read SASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP/Getty Images) /
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As we come ever closer to the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season, Borussia Dortmund fans can look back fondly on what was a stellar Hinrunde, which saw them crowned “autumn champions”, with a 6 point lead above rivals Bayern Munich to prove as much.

While the second half will surely prove to be exciting for all fans concerned, it would be an injustice to not look back in detail at some of the highlights and key talking points from the run Borussia Dortmund have put together so far.

08 December 2018, North Rhine-Westphalia, Gelsenkirchen: Soccer: Bundesliga, FC Schalke 04 – Borussia Dortmund, 14th matchday in the Veltins Arena: Thomas Delaney (l) and Axel Witsel celebrate in front of the fans. Photo: Bernd Thissen/dpa
08 December 2018, North Rhine-Westphalia, Gelsenkirchen: Soccer: Bundesliga, FC Schalke 04 – Borussia Dortmund, 14th matchday in the Veltins Arena: Thomas Delaney (l) and Axel Witsel celebrate in front of the fans. Photo: Bernd Thissen/dpa /

Midfield Revelations – The rise of Axel Witsel and Thomas Delaney

The first half of the Bundesliga season was a time of discovery for Borussia Dortmund, which saw Lucien Favre get tasked with the job of fitting together all the new pieces the team had acquired throughout the transfer window. Two of those pieces, Axel Witsel and Thomas Delaney, quickly rose to prominence as Lucien Favre’s strongest midfield pairing. Witsel and Delaney have provided a stability and dominance in midfield we have not seen since they height of the Jurgen Klopp era.

Witsel was arguably the bargain signing of 2018, as dubbed by Belgium coach Roberto Martinez, and in many ways he hasn’t been wrong. For 20 million euros, Borussia Dortmund got a composed midfielder who has controlled the tempo of games and shown an inability to lose the ball in midfield all season long. Witsel has boasted a fantastic pass success rate up until this point, which is over 93% in both the Champions League and the Bundesliga. Alongside him, Thomas Delaney has made for the perfect partner in crime, doing all the dirty work of a midfield destroyer, putting in tackles to break up play and shielding the back line.

Together, these two have been pillars of strength for Dortmund to build their success upon for the first half of the season.

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