Borussia Dortmund managed to get a 1-0 win over bottom club Hannover 96 on Saturday, in spite of not bringing their best game to the pitch. Speaking after the match, manager Thomas Tuchel said that his side still have much to improve upon.
This win has taken Die Borussen to within five points of Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table, but the Bavarians would be able to regain their eight-point advantage if the beat FC Augsburg on Sunday.
“First and foremost, we are, of course, happy that our mentality and aggression in the game ultimately got us the result,” Tuchel was quoted saying in Borussia Dortmund’s official website. “It is still worth a lot, even if it didn’t look particularly good for long periods of the game compared with our normal performances. We are really happy about that.
“We know that there’s room for improvement. We couldn’t give everything we’ve got today, but that’s OK. In the coming weeks we’ll be tested to our limits, but we feel ready for that,” he continued.
Aubameyang’s absence hurting Dortmund?
Tuchel’s team created a host of chances on Saturday, but they could only score one goal that earned them the win against Hannover. Manager Tuchel rued all the chances missed by his team, but he also complimented the Hannover defence for keeping a solid backline throughout the match, making it difficult for the Dortmund players to attack their opposition.
However, it seemed quite clear that Borussia Dortmund were missing their star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the match. The Gabon international was ruled out of the match with an injury, and he had to watch his side miss one chance after another against Hannover. While Marco Reus Played in the ‘false 9’ position, it would be interesting to see whether the German can adapt to that role soon enough to help his team score goals in the upcoming fixtures.
