Borussia Dortmund are legit CL contenders

How do you think they will do in CL next season?

Go past group stages. Depends who they get then.

I'm still waiting for them to make some good signings. They need a good bench for them to do good at the Bundesliga + CL.

Last 16

it depends on what they have learnt from their EL campaign, if they now understand how to manage/play european football, I can see them getting as far as QF if they get the luck of the draw

if that poor Schalke team could do it im sure they could

Group stage exist

round of 16 ..not more than that..but thing is ,they need loads of luck like schalke to progress further..most importantly they shud be in a fairly easy group

I dont think they have the depth to compete for both for league and CL even if they bring in few players.Added to that they have lost Sahin on cheap.It depends on which they prioritize btw League and CL.Probably will survive group stage and depend on who they draw.

With a bit of luck they can easily achieve what Schalke did last year.Its certainly not beyond imagination.

Sushi Master wrote:I'm still waiting for them to make some good signings. They need a good bench for them to do good at the Bundesliga + CL.

I was reading a while back that they were looking to bring Albin Ekdal to complete their transfer campaign, but now he's been recalled to Turin it looks unlikely. But I'm curious as to what you think, will they indeed strengthen they surely need to, or rely on the policy that got them this far?

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:

Sushi Master wrote:I'm still waiting for them to make some good signings. They need a good bench for them to do good at the Bundesliga + CL.

I was reading a while back that they were looking to bring Albin Ekdal to complete their transfer campaign, but now he's been recalled to Turin it looks unlikely. But I'm curious as to what you think, will they indeed strengthen they surely need to, or rely on the policy that got them this far?

Their policy has doen wonders. A great, young team with minimal funds. They have a huge loss in Sahin, which is the only player that got away because the rest signed extensions. They signed Gundogan who is supposed to be his replacement, but he's still very raw. Their starting 11 is fine, it's their bench I'm worried about. They have all the attacking midfield options covered, but they need a good bench striker. I really wanted Klose to go there, he would have fit their style with no effort. Their midfield also needs strengthening in case Bender or the new signing are injured. Apart from that, they're good.

Well Sahin got poached by Madrid so, not sure now.

they will definitely have a problem progressing out of the group stage just check out the Cl seeding:
POT ONE – qualified: Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter Milan. Favourites to qualify: Bayern Munich, Arsenal.

POT TWO – qualified: AC Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, CSKA Moscow, Marseille. Favourites to qualify: Benfica, Villarreal, Dynamo Kiev or Lyon.

POT THREE – qualified: Zenit St Petersburg, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos, Fenerbahce, Manchester City. Favourites to qualify: Rangers, Copenhagen.

POT FOUR – qualified: Lille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Swiss champions, Otelul Galati. Favourites to qualify: BATE Borisov, Maccabi Haifa, Dinamo Zagreb or Salzburg

if everything goes wrong for Dortmund they can land find themselves fighting for qualification with Barcelona,Ac milan and Man city !!
that would be an epic Draw
if they are lucky, they can be drawn with Porto, Dynamo Kiev and Copenhagen.

so it depends on their luck !!

Hope they dont get drawn with the likes of Barca.A early thrashing in the group stage could really dent their confidence.They need a couple of easy teams ( Like Schalke had) in group stage to instill confidence to progress in knock out matches.

Batigoal wrote:they will definitely have a problem progressing out of the group stage just check out the Cl seeding:
POT ONE – qualified: Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter Milan. Favourites to qualify: Bayern Munich, Arsenal.

POT TWO – qualified: AC Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, CSKA Moscow, Marseille. Favourites to qualify: Benfica, Villarreal, Dynamo Kiev or Lyon.

POT THREE – qualified: Zenit St Petersburg, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos, Fenerbahce, Manchester City. Favourites to qualify: Rangers, Copenhagen.

POT FOUR – qualified: Lille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Swiss champions, Otelul Galati. Favourites to qualify: BATE Borisov, Maccabi Haifa, Dinamo Zagreb or Salzburg

if everything goes wrong for Dortmund they can land find themselves fighting for qualification with Barcelona,Ac milan and Man city !!
that would be an epic Draw
if they are lucky, they can be drawn with Porto, Dynamo Kiev and Copenhagen.

so it depends on their luck !!

Either way is group stage exist for them

further than madrid

pdolson wrote:further than madrid

No wonder you have -32, that's what Madrid Fans knows how to do best.

Rep people down that don't accept a legitimate view that Madrid is not too much of a great side

Sushi Master wrote:

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:

Sushi Master wrote:I'm still waiting for them to make some good signings. They need a good bench for them to do good at the Bundesliga + CL.

I was reading a while back that they were looking to bring Albin Ekdal to complete their transfer campaign, but now he's been recalled to Turin it looks unlikely. But I'm curious as to what you think, will they indeed strengthen they surely need to, or rely on the policy that got them this far?

Their policy has doen wonders. A great, young team with minimal funds. They have a huge loss in Sahin, which is the only player that got away because the rest signed extensions. They signed Gundogan who is supposed to be his replacement, but he's still very raw. Their starting 11 is fine, it's their bench I'm worried about. They have all the attacking midfield options covered, but they need a good bench striker. I really wanted Klose to go there, he would have fit their style with no effort. Their midfield also needs strengthening in case Bender or the new signing are injured. Apart from that, they're good.

Interesting, it's indeed the strength of your reserves that can lift you in those difficult situations when the squad is wearing thin. When talking about a bench striker and any other signings what do you think they will opt for; eg- The young and reasonably unknown player with potential, or a Veteran player with experience and proven credentials?

Surely the latter would make the most sense. Speaking from experience, Barzagli while not as promising as Bonucci or Sorensen sured up our defense for the grand sum of €600,000. For the future he will be a valuable reserve.

A signing or two like that could really help when the chips are down, as you said Klose would've been perfect.

Barzagli was a great buy, but Dortmund could not compete with Juve in that aspect. They have a decent CB backup in Felipe Santana, but Owomoyela is getting old. Overall defense isn't the problem, it's mostly in strikers. They only have 1 good one in Barrios. I'm guessing they will put further faith in youth talent, but I'm not sure who they're after and will most likely be "German youth factory player #45841". Veterans if available could be also used. In the Bundesliga you can see quality buys for under 10m.

I'm sure Viva could give you further input

Well if they get an easy group then the last 16 would be a realistic guess.

Hard to say really.

A lot depends on how they will replace Sahin and the year after a huge sucess is always difficult.

Don't forget they are really young so I can see them struggle.

How good is their squad!!! We don't get to watch German League, so no idea about the quality & depth of their present squad.

Don't intend to take away any credit from them (frankly, it was nice to them & Leverkusen do well), but last season other 'big' clubs were terrible.

Have they lost any key player! Have they bought any good player! IMO all these will influence their performance in League & CL.

iftikhar wrote:How good is their squad!!! We don't get to watch German League, so no idea about the quality & depth of their present squad.

Don't intend to take away any credit from them (frankly, it was nice to them & Leverkusen do well), but last season other 'big' clubs were terrible.

Have they lost any key player! Have they bought any good player! IMO all these will influence their performance in League & CL.

They almost surpassed a Bundesliga record for points and I think they have one of the best defenses ever. So they deserve all the merit they get. They have a great young, talented squad with a lot of balls. A decent, but not great bench and a manager with huge ambition. The other "big" clubs imploded, sure, but the smaller ones sure took their place nicely. They lost a key player in Sahin. Not sure how they will cope but we'll see. Gundogan is meant to replace him but I am sure other signings may come, most in the form of youth.

Whatever happens everyone will realize how great a defence BVB has.Probably on par with the best in Europe.IIRC they let only 18 goals last season.

And there will also be post match interviews from Klopp after CLwhich will be epic.Hopefully they are in english.

If they've had Sahin i'd say 1/8 is guaranteed but without him i think they will find it difficult to survive from the group stage. depends on their group too.