Highs and Lows from Borussia Dortmund's 2012/13 season

Borussia Dortmund: Highs and lows from the dramatic 2012/13 season

By Adam Bakr | Mar 31, 2020

(First row, from L) Dortmund's striker Marco Reus, Dortmund's midfielder Mario Goetze, Dortmund's defender Marcel Schmelzer, Dortmund's midfielder Ilkay Guendogan, Dortmund's Polish midfielder Jakub "Kuba" Blaszczykowski, (second row, from L) Dortmund's goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, Dortmund's Polish defender Lukasz Piszczek, Dortmund's midfielder Sven Bender, Dortmund's Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, Dortmund's Serbian defender Neven Subotic, Dortmund's defender Mats Hummels pose before the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg football match Real Madrid CF vs Borussia Dortmund at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on April 30, 2013. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP via Getty Images) /

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Marco Reus reacts after the German first division Bundesliga football match Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04 on October 20, 2012. AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ /

Low: No three-peat

Coming off the back of two successive league titles, Dortmund hardly set the league on fire to start the new league campaign. They dropped points early and often in the opening months, and after 10 games they had as many draws as wins with four of each, and also saw their long unbeaten run end at the hands of Hamburger SV.

Dortmund did not win consecutive games till mid November, 12 games into the season. By that point Bayern had won 10 of their opening 12 games which put them top of the table with 31 points, nine ahead of Dortmund.

Klopp’s side struggled to pick up momentum and string together runs of results. Coming off a season where they won 15 of their last 17 to win the title, Borussia Dortmund rarely came close to recapturing that form. Their best run of the season saw the side win 12 of 15, but Bayern winning 14 of their 15 in the same span meant the gap only expanded.

Winning the league in a year where Bayern got 91 points was nearly impossible, but the disappointment comes from the drop off from the previous year. Dortmund had just set the all time points record at 81 points, and fell down to a 66 this season. The offense actually scored more goals this time around but the reliable defense that conceded just 22 and 25 goals in the seasons before conceded 42 this time around, although injuries played a part in that.

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