Lucien Favre disappointed but not concerned amid Borussia Dortmund’s winless run

Lucien Favre has admitted that Borussia Dortmund must do better, but is not worried despite the club’s first rough patch of the season.

Borussia Dortmund’s winless run continued on Monday as they were held to a goalless draw by bottom club FC Nuremberg. Despite dominating possession and creating a host of opportunities, the Black and Yellows lacked creativity and were unable to find a breakthrough against a resilient Nuremberg side, who had ten men behind the ball for the majority of the game. As a result, their lead over Bayern Munich at the top of the table now stands at just three points.

Borussia Dortmund’s season has been disrupted by injuries and illness in recent weeks. And as a result, the club have failed to win any of their last five matches. In this period, they have been eliminated from the DFB Pokal, drawn their last three matches, and are on the brink of Champions League elimination after a heavy defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg.

And while Favre is not worried about the poor run, he has admitted that the team must find solutions quickly.

"“Being worried? I will never do that,” Favre said in the press conference after the game. “Why? This is part of the game. You have to analyse these games. It’s because of small details in almost every game.“All games are difficult. We didn’t play badly. We had enough chances to at least get one goal. But we didn’t manage it. We had a lot of possession but we should’ve put the ball into the penalty area more often. Nuremberg were very defensive-minded, they were playing with 11 men behind the ball. We need to deal with that better.”“We’re disappointed with the result. That comes with not winning five games in a row. Sometimes that can happen in a season.”"

Mario Gotze, who captained the side on Monday night and came closest to scoring for Borussia Dortmund, also called for the need to improve.

"“That wasn’t good enough. We need to get the three points. We had one or two chances to score, but we need to be more consistent. We have to play more aggressively and get into the opponent’s penalty area more quickly.”“Of course it is not easy, especially when they sit very deep. In the second period, we performed slightly better. We need to improve and pick up points.”"

Goalkeeper Roman Burki echoed Gotze’s thoughts and bemoaned Dortmund’s lack of penetration.

"“We’ve now gone two games without scoring. At least we kept a clean sheet today, but the opponent didn’t manage to create much.Nonetheless, it’s very frustrating to watch from a distance. We had one or two opportunities but nothing clear-cut. We were lacking a bit of penetration.”"

Borussia Dortmund’s next game will see them host in-form Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday. The match will also mark the return of former Dortmund head coach Peter Bosz, who has led the resurgence at Leverkusen. Failure to win on Sunday could have serious implications on Borussia Dortmund’s title bid.