Borussia Dortmund discover strength in vulnerability

Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Bayern Munich
(Moukoko 74', Modeste 90+5 - Goretzka 33', Sané 53')
Westfalenstadion, Dortmund

After a dramatic draw between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, it’s tempting to launch into a conversation about unsealed cracks still appearing at Bayern, about unprecedented competition at the top of the Bundesliga, or about Dortmund launching a potential title challenge.

But after a 2-2 draw like the one played out on Saturday, that should be left for another day. Sometimes, the sheer enjoyment and emotion of 90 minutes of football – or 95 in this case – is what matters. Because what a 95 minutes they turned out to be.

And yet, at least after 45 of those minutes, it all felt familiar: Bayern ahead thanks to their only shot of the game, the belated arrival of Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman off the bench to steady the ship, Niklas Süle turning away from Leroy Sané as he made it two, and Jamal Musiala constantly dangerous.

Vintage Bayern, typical Dortmund, with the inevitable result incoming. Not this time.

Modeste and Moukoko combine

Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann had been insisting that he'd used the recent international break to thoroughly analyze what had been going wrong for his team as they went four Bundesliga games without a win – but the meticulous 35-year-old hadn't accounted for the mentality of Edin Terzic's Borussia Dortmund.

He hadn't accounted for Jude Bellingham's furiously intense conversations with his coach, searching for solutions during a break in the game. He hadn't accounted for what can happen to a side that looks dead and buried but is reminded by the home crowd that there is still time and that they still believe.

And he hadn't accounted for the impact of Anthony Modeste, the Frenchman's experience off the bench complementing Youssoufa Moukoko's youth to devastating effect.

"They weren’t my substitutions; they were our substitutions," insisted a visibly emotional Terzic at full time after Modeste had set up Moukoko to get Dortmund back into the game, before netting a 95th-minute winner himself – moments after missing a sitter.

"We're a team, and we want to score goals as a team, so Tony unselfishly laying it off to Moukoko like that was perfectly done."

Terzic: 'I'm looking forward to the mentality question'

Terzic made the right changes at the right time and was aided by Coman's red card, but this was a side riding a wave of emotion which only the Westfalenstadion can generate but the like of which hadn’t been felt in a long time.

"I'm looking forward to the mentality question," quipped Terzic at full-time, a scarcely concealed broadside in the direction of the Bundesliga record 450 media representatives in attendance, some of whom have long criticized Borussia Dortmund for perceived mental fragility at key moments.

But there was little justification for such questions here on a night on which Dortmund just grew stronger and stronger.

Despite the absence of captain Marco Reus and number one goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, and with just 45 minutes of Mats Hummels and a 17-year-old in attack, they responded to the call of the Yellow Wall and the emotion of their head coach.

Terzic had tears in his eyes as he hugged Modeste like a long-lost brother and admitted to Sky News that he had had a difficult week.

"I don’t want to talk about my private life, but this stadium deserves emotion and we have been missing these emotions here," he said.

That emotion was best captured in Modeste. The best strikers have a knack of being in the right place at the right time but, since his move to Dortmund, the Frenchman has generally looked out of place and out of time.

Borussia Dortmund's strength in vulnerability

But tonight was his night. After nodding home Nico Schlotterbeck's cross, he sprinted away, the Dortmund bench erupted, and the entire stadium turned into a jumbled mess of yellow shirts and winter jackets.

Bellingham put his arm around him, signaling to the crowd to shower him with the love he deserved. "Modeste, Modeste, Anthony Modeste!" they sung, from the Sübtribüne to the main stand to the forecourt outside, and all the way back to the station to catch their trams and trains.

Modeste continued his celebrations with his children, who came sprinting onto the pitch to hug their father. "What are the kids like when you score?" Modeste was asked. "When I score?" he responded. “I get the most feedback off them when I don't!" 

It was redemption, emotion, vulnerability all in one moment. And that, paradoxically, is what Edin Terzic's Borussia Dortmund are at the moment, driven by an emotion which on the one hand makes them vulnerable but also, with the right push, also makes them strong enough not to get rolled over by Bayern.

Who knows what it means for the rest of the season; those conversations can wait.

Edited by: Matt Ford