Borussia Dortmund 5-0 Wolfsberger AC, Thursday 6th August 2015

Borussia Dortmund 5-0 Wolfsberger AC (att. 65,190)

Finally, I see a game at the temple of football, the Westfalenstadion (AKA Signal Iduna Park). And being in pain (a problem with my neck has reached my back – any doctors out there?) I thought I’d have the perfect afternoon: a leisurely dip in the open air pool next to the stadium, pre-match. Christ, with the heat too, I think I was looking forward more to this than the match. So, what a blow it was when I found it was closed on matchday. I’d brought my swimming cozzie and everything.  I wasn't the only one.

Welcome to ....

There were still five hours to go to the match. Do I go back into town or find somewhere to drink next to the stadium? It’s b). A pub on the north-east corner was open. Cue bag check from over-officious bouncer. No, I may not bring my bottle of water in. The beer garden in their old stadium (Rote Erde) next door wasn’t open yet, so I stayed in and enjoyed a beer, some German Sky Sports and air-con.

Then I went in the beer garden. It made me wonder who would rather be in the pub? Sunny day, picnic tables, cheap beer and schnitzel, all within view of Borussia’s old stadium (now used by their reserve side). I could flick through my €1 programme.

The new stadium dwarfs the old.

What is there to say about the stadium itself? Steep stands and, due to the one-tiered ‘yellow wall’, not uniformly 3-tiered all round. Tonite though, the yellow wall was a pale imitation of its usual self, as the near 25,000 terrace was all-seater for Europe (not that anybody sat down). The given attendance of 65,000 was capacity, though I spotted the odd few empty seats.

The Yellow Wall (a photo of a photo..in the club shop)

I’d decided to treat myself, given it was Dortmund. I coulda had a ticket for as little as €22 but I wanted a guaranteed good view, so went large, €48, for a second row ticket in the upper tier, behind the goal, opposite the ‘yellow wall’. A fine view, and the cost still compares favourably with the £47 I was quoted for a Man U-Norwich league cup game a couple of years back (I didn’t go).

The flags fly pre-match.

The opposition were Wolfsberger AC, a team I’d never heard of till the draw was made. Austrian apparently. At 0-1 down from the home leg, surely they were going to be lambs to the Dortmund slaughter?

No and Yes. The Wolfs (Wolves?) somehow made it to half time goalless. The ref missed a blatant pen on Marco Reus (the keeper taking him out in a scramble) while a goal for Aubameyang was chalked off for offside despite him running PAST the defenders onto it. Oh well, any (Borussia) goals would now be at the opposite end of the stadium – and they were, five of them.

A lone Wolf  in the home end.

Reus, the best player on the pitch for the first hour, opened the scoring, having all the time in the world to hit it across the keeper from the edge of the box. The dam had burst. Soon after, Aubameyang lifted the ball over the keeper for #2 before the Henrikh Mkhitaryan Show began. Bam! Left foot from 20 yards to the keeper’s right. Bang! He reverses the move and the keeper fails to get down to it again. Then a composed finish for his hattrick, from just inside the box. I’ve previously seen him shoot from all over the place (and miss). Was tonite a new, improved Mkhitaryan? Or were Wolfsberger just a yard too slow?

The Westfalen under lights, a sight to behold.

Another sign of the gulf in class was the corner count: 11-1 in Dortmund’s favour. And the Austrian’s one? In front of the yellow wall, he slipped over when taking it and the ball dribbled over the line for a goalkick. You could hear the laughter all around the stadium.

It was the usual (mis)adventure after the game as I sought to reach Dortmund hauptbahnhof. Instead of going to the stadium train station, (cos I worried I’d not get on the train), I followed the crowd and jumped on a bus…to the university. I was no closer to my destination and I had an overnight train to Warsaw to catch. Luckily, I spoke to a student who pointed me in the direction of the university’s own station and I reached the main station in time for a beer before I was off again.  Phew.

Full time, five-zero.

The Damage:
€48 ent
€1 prog
€2.50 schnitzel
€3.50 beer
= €55 (£39)

The Tunes:
ACD (Half Man Half Biscuit)
Versions (Spring Heel Jack)
The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman (Sparks)

Pre-match Rote Erde beer garden.

Signal Iduna Park

Wall of stickers

Here's a few we stuck on earlier.

The teams come out.

The Dortmund ranks.

Yellows!  Yellows!