FC Köln 1-1 Borussia Dortmund: Key Takeaways from frustrating draw

Erling Haaland fails to take his chances for Borussia Dortmund

Erling Haaland cut a very frustrated figure at the end of Borussia Dortmund’s clash with Köln, and its not hard to see why. His team had the chance to keep the Bundesliga title race alive with a win, and yet here they were failing to keep pace with the Bavarian giants yet again.

Whats more, Haaland also likely felt disappointed because this time, he also had a role to play by failing to capitalize on the plethora of chances that came his way.

Haaland has failed to score in three games since coming back from injury, and seems uncharacteristically not as clinical since his hefty spell on the sidelines. This of course is normal for a player who has just come back from injury, but it is unfortunate for Dortmund considering the timing.

With the season rapidly approaching it’s final stages, the hope would have been for Dortmund to push Bayern until the end, at least giving them a fight before they win their 10th successive Bundesliga tile. For this to occur, Dortmund would have needed Haaland to come up big for them here. His inability to do so finally proves one thing: Haaland is human after all.

It is also worth noting that Haaland’s form has seen a significant downturn ever since the turn of the year, when speculation about his future started ramping up. Yes, he spent a lot of time out with an injury. But even before that, the Norwegian international was hardly setting the world alight with his performances.

Final thoughts

When looking back on Borussia Dortmund’s draw against Köln, one can’t help but see it as a reflection and culmination of all the problems they have had all season long; An injury-riddled squad scrapping for points in a season where underperformance and lethargy are the unfortunate benchmarks this team will be measured by.

The performance looked tired at times, with players either returning from injury, out of form, or out of their usual position trying to push on and get the game over with.

The unfortunate nature of the situation Dortmund find themselves in can be measured by the six points they are now adrift of Bayern Munich. Such is Bayern’s dominance over this league that one would have needed to be perfect in the final games of the season and hope for Bayern to slip more than once for Die Schwarzgelben to truly have a chance at lifting the Meisterschale come the end of the season. It would now take a miracle for Dortmund to overcome Bayern.

With the chance of silverware now likely just a fleeting memory, Marco Rose and his side must still look to finish as strongly as possible. The remaining games should not serve as a moment for the team to merely coast, but as a time of reflection and improvement. This is a process they have a chance to start against RB Leipzig on April 2nd.

Dortmund will host Die Roten Bullen at the Westfalenstadion with the hopes of at least showing that despite the season as a whole they can still put up a fight against higher quality opposition and that they are trying to work on becoming a more collectively solid unit moving forward.