Sebastian Kehl: Borussia Dortmund can "live with a point" against Bayer Leverkusen

After Borussia Dortmund's away draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl spoke about the team's away performance, highlighting that the club could "live with a point" against the league leaders. Despite this, Kehl's comments clearly made it seem as if there could have been more for Dortmund to take from this match:

"The touch is definitely there, in my eyes even two, and in the Bundesliga a penalty has already been whistled for much less than in this situation (with Karim Adeyemi). But we can live with the point. We tried to get Leverkusen into trouble with transitional moments, but we lost the ball a few too many times. We could have made it a bit easier for ourselves in the reversal game. The spaces were there for counter-attacking situations."

- Sebastian Kehl

Kehl's words about the penalty in question ring true, and was a sentiment echoed by Edin Terzić who voiced his opinion about this game's decision, and previous decisions going back to last season that involved Karim Adeyemi. Having obtained a favorable penalty decision could have altered the course of the game dramatically.

Of course, it's also important to note that a club the calibre of Dortmund shouldn't be relying on these deicisions to take the lead in games such as this. Julian Brandt was quick to acknowledge that on the day, Leverkusen were very much the stronger team and quite possibly would have deserved the win:

"If we look at the goal chances, the corners and the game parts, then we are happy to take the point with us. We had in the 95th minute the chance for 2:1, and you can also discuss the penalty. On the whole, however, Leverkusen would have deserved the victory more than we did. I'm glad that we fought for this point."

- Julian Brandt

The performance, while not perfect up front, was a hard fought and dogged one from Dortmund, especially in defense. Up until Nico Schlotterbeck was taken off in the second half, the defensive display seemed to be a a very assured one. Offensively chances were not taken, which led to the result witnessed at the end of extra time.

In time, a draw away against Lerverkusen may seem like a great result, depending on how the rest of the year's performances go and how Dortmund starts after the new year. As of now however, while it is a secure point, there still seems like more coul have been achieved, especially if Terzić had been a bit more brave in terms of his substitutions, especially at the tail end of the game.