Borussia Dortmund manager Niko Kovac reveled in his team's second place finish this Bundesliga season while also acknowledging that Bayern Munich were better than them.
With a 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday, the BVB were officially confirmed as the runners-up of the top-flight campaign, with RB Leipzig trailing by five points ahead of the final matchday.
For a long time this season, they competed with Bayern for the league title but it all fell apart over the last few weeks as Dortmund faltered big time.
Kovac reasserted their title ambitions for next season but took pride in the fact that his team were better than all other sides not named Bayern.
"“We’re second now, which is good, because Bayern are the ‘super-Bayern’. Of course we want to compete for titles. That’s our ambition too, but you also have to acknowledge that the opposition – in this case Bayern – are simply much better than us. But we’re also really good compared to the others.”"said the Croatian
Dortmund have achieved their highest position in the league since the 2022-23 season, the last time they secured the runners-up place, and it's the 10th time overall in Bundesliga history where they have managed it.
However, they are a mammoth 14 point behind the Bavarians, which exposes the massive gulf in quality between the first and second of the German top-flight.
Two months ago, the Black and Yellows were hot on the coattails of Bayern, trailing by just six points which seemed negotiable.
But then back-to-back winless games, first a draw to RB Leipzig and then a home loss to Bayern themselves that seemingly killed their title aspirations.
And if that wasn't enough, Dortmund then succumbed to three losses in four against Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim and Borussia Monchengladbach.
All this served to rub more salt on their wounds as now their second place ambitions were also plunged into uncertainty with Leipzig and Stuttgart lurking close by.
The 3-2 win over Frankfurt settled everything as the silver medal was confirmed but it did little to highlight the gap in quality between them and the Bavarians.
It's been 12 years now since the BVB last clinched the Meisterschale, a drought they've be hoping to break next season but need to address a few concerns before achieving it.
Kovac has indeed turned Dortmund into a well-oiled machine, but their poor record in the big games coupled with propensity for defensive lapses held them back.
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