During a Bundesliga roundtable on Thursday, Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel discussed an array of topics, including their recent Champions League exit, how to stop Harry Kane ahead of this weekend’s Der Klassiker, the pull-factor of the Bundesliga, and much more. 

The first flurry of questions naturally began regarding the night before in Bergamo, where BVB surrendered a two-goal lead and were ultimately knocked out of the Champions League 4-1 on the night (4-3 on aggregate). 

The BVB goalkeeper was asked how the team would put the disappointment behind them, particularly with such a big game on the weekend against Bayern Munich. 

Kobel explained: “Yeah, of course, if you have a game like this, obviously it’s a tough situation after the game you’re in. I think it’s sometimes easier said than done, but I think you have to just keep going, focus on the next game. Games like this are part of football, and for us as professionals it’s really important that we can focus on what we can do, that we focus on the training today, on the training tomorrow, and then just get a good energy in the team and play a nice game on Saturday.”

Forgoing the Atalanta game on Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund can boast an excellent defensive record, particularly over the last 12 months. A key part of that is, of course, Kobel himself. He asked why he thinks that is, and what the process was in becoming a strong defensive side. 

“I think just come together as a team. The coach always focuses on how important it is that every single player is involved in defense, even the strikers, even the attackers. I think if you’re compact as a team, if you focus, if you work as an engine, like the whole team together, it’s way harder to score because the space is way smaller. And then obviously just the basics, intensity, physicality, search for the duels, sometimes it has to be a little bit painful as well. So just bring that intensity, that maybe aggression to the game and make it as hard as possible for the opponent.” 

A win on Saturday evening against Bayern Munich would put BVB five points behind their opponents, who sit in top spot. There have been conflicting messages in the Dortmund camp over the last few weeks in regards to their ambitions to fight for the title. 

Captain Nico Schlotterbeck expressed his intentions on pushing for the title this season when BVB had started to close the gap on Bayern, who had dropped points to FC Augsburg and Hamburger SV in consecutive weeks. 

The central defender declared after a win against Union Berlin: “I think, as BVB we need to start saying ‘We want to be champions!’. We were a bit lucky to win today, but I don’t give a damn. We won!”

Following the comments, Sporting director Sebastian Kehl somewhat cooled ambitions by explaining: “Of course, we don’t want to relinquish this second place at the end of the year, that’s obvious. What you have, you want to keep. We have to be realistic about the top spot.”

Kobel was asked how Schlotterbeck’s comments were interpreted in the dressing room, considering this weekend’s game could go a long way in deciding who wins the Bundesliga. 

“No, I think this was more a theme on the outside than it was on the inside. I think when you play for this club and when you arrive here, it’s always clear that you strive for the maximum and you try to win. Obviously, if you watch the last few years, we came close, but we never really got it done. Obviously, if you watch Bayern as well this season, what they are doing, how they play, it’s an amazing team. They win every game with a lot of goals in mind between them so I think what we can do is focus on us try to try to improve as a team try to get better and and compete with them and obviously I think when you when you go when you go into like why you want to be a professional you want to win and you want to be the best at the end of the day and we strive every day to achieve that goal. Failure sometimes is sadly part of the game too, but on the inside, I think it’s very clear, we always strive for the best.” 

Bringing the attention back to Der Klassiker, Bayern Munich’s goalscoring machine, Harry Kane, was brought into conversation, and his range of shooting abilities from inside and outside the box. As a goalkeeper, Kobel will be all too familiar with the Englishman’s eye for goal. The Swiss shotstopper was asked if there was anything he could do to prepare himself for this kind of threat.

“Maybe this is not unusual, but it’s not very common as well, a way of thinking about the shots from outside of the area. I mean, this guy is one of the best in the world. You can see it from his stats, from his play the whole season. I think it’s interesting what you say from the shots outside the box, but I think for myself it’s very hard as a keeper to really focus on one specific element, because as a keeper you need to be always prepared for everything.”

Kobel was then asked his opinions on the Bundesliga as a whole, as a product. In recent years, the league has seen several top names leave for other top leagues, in particular, the Premier League. Kobel was asked from a player’s perspective how it is playing in the Bundesliga and what could probably change in the league for it to retain its top talent more?

The 28-year-old responded: “I think that this is a really structural thing, the question you ask me. I think me, as a player, maybe I’m not the best to answer the question because it’s not really my part, my job, you know, this type of thing. But for me, I can just speak from experience. When I grew up in Switzerland, obviously, because of the language, Germany was like the nearest thing, so I always had an eye on or watched the Bundesliga, and I think it was the closest thing to me when I grew up. So for me it’s really close, and it’s one of the nicest things. Obviously, when you watch the world, it’s more focused on the Premier League, and the Champions League is obviously a big competition that gets a lot of views as well. Yeah, I think it’s hard to compete financially. This is what’s always in the news and what I can say, what I read, and what I can say about the thing. But the things you can do, I think this is not really my job. I think my job is to be in the goal, help my teammates, and try to win games.” 

With just the Bundesliga to play for this season, Saturday’s game against Bayern Munich will be an all-or-nothing moment for Gregor Kobel and his teammates. Three points would really put the pressure on Bayern heading into the business end of the season. All eyes now turn to Saturday evening and what BVB’s response will be.