At first glance celebrations in the Dortmund arena appeared like a title party.
But as Borussia had gambled away the unique chance to end a decade-long dominance of rival Bayern, the Black and Yellow’s fans developed a fine sense of what is needed to help their team to get over a painful setback.
For a sheer endless time, supporters cheered players and the coaching staff.
Tens of thousands of supporters had made their way to Dortmund expecting a home win over Mainz but instead witnessed a disappointing 2-2 draw that wasn’t enough to secure the club’s first title since 2012.
“The next days will be very difficult as we had things in our hands but didn’t finish the thing despite a great second season half,” former German international Mats Hummels said.
The defender spoke about “gigantic frustration as we failed”. Hummels said it appears painful to have ended up with 71 points like Bayern but have lost the title due to a weaker goal record.
“It hurts a lot as we came that near to winning the trophy and it will take more than just a day to get over that,” Hummels added.
While fans grieved on their way home, the fan party scheduled for Sunday was skipped by the city council officials.
Coach Edin Terzic’s eyes seemed filled with tears after the final whistle turned things into hardly bearable reality.
The BVB coach admitted to being without words due to the setback but shortly after said: “No matter how deep the pain might be, we will come back and do better next season.”
The 40-year-old spoke about a nearly perfect second half of the season only having to deal with one defeat. “We have done a great job in 2023 and we intend to continue that way in the 2023-24 season,” he said.
The BVB coach referred to a difficult season coming along with several challenges as “today delivered the second most difficult setback after we were shocked having received the news from Sebastien Haller’s cancer illness last summer.”
“It doesn’t feel fair as we were only one game away from the club’s ninth title.”
If there remains any positive memory of the 2022-23 season it might be the fact that the club triggered a wave of euphoria among his fans.
“We have come a lot closer with the supporters despite the sad outcome,” Terzic said.
The Borussia coach announced to make another attempt to win the national championship next season as the team “is on a promising track.”
