Borussia Dortmund legend and current managing director Lars Ricken is proud of what the club has accomplished internationally in the past two seasons. Ricken commented on BVB's exit from the Club World Cup last Saturday in the United States at the hands of Real Madrid.
BVB was among the final eight participants, losing to Madrid in the quarter-finals, 3-2. Marcel Sabitzer had a chance to send the game to extra time, but Thibaut Courtois made a fabulous save. In a statement on Dortmund’s official website, Lars Ricken praised the club’s stellar performance in recent competitions.
He said: "We are among the top eight in Europe, reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and are now among the best eight teams in the world. That’s something to be proud of. No German team has been better than us internationally in the past two years. We’ve had an intense period behind us. We have proudly represented BVB, the city of Dortmund and the Bundesliga at the FIFA Club World Cup.”
Borussia Dortmund is indeed the best-performing German club in international competitions over the past two years. Black and Yellow reached the Champions League Final last year, losing to Real Madrid 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in London. Bayern Munich was eliminated in the semifinal that season by Real Madrid.
In this season's Champions League campaign, Die Schwarzgelben was in the quarter-finals and lost an intense matchup versus Barcelona. Bayern were also toppled in the quarter-finals by Inter Milan, while Bayer Leverkusen only reached the Round of 16.
At the Club World Cup, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich reached the final eight. BVB lost to Real Madrid, as noted, while Bayern Munich was defeated by Paris Saint-Germain. For next season’s Champions League, four German teams qualified: Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, and Frankfurt.