Wednesday, December the 21st 2011. Just a few days before Christmas, Borussia had already advanced to the quarter finals of the German DFB cup. The only thing missing is an opponent. After the rest of the cup matches had been played, the drawing took place on national television. Alongside Borussia, Hertha BSC Berlin, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Holstein Kiel, VfB Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, TSG Hoffenheim and SpVgg Greuther Fürth are part of the quarter finals. After it was decided that Holstein Kiel will be the next opponent of Borussia, television cameras present the team from the fourth league celebrating the fact that they will face the Deutscher Meister in February. Everything seems fine, Kiel is happy, Borussia is happy... until we hear the familiar sounds of the popular chant "BVB Hurensöhne" (meaning "BVB sons of bitches"). The players of Holstein Kiel did not think about being on TV and kept singing and the whole situation is of course taken up by the media over the following days. At least it is winter break and journalists need something to write about.
There isn’t really much to be said about the game itself but so much more about everything around it. It was cold, very cold. It wasn’t pretty but a piece of hard work and at the end of the week, we found ourselves at the top of the table, having repeated once again what we had done for the last three games in a row: beating Nuremberg 2:0.
What a great start into the season it has been. The defeat of Hamburg sent a deafening thunder across the country, announcing our return to the weekly circus of the Bundesliga. The roaring continued last week against pitifully Hoffenheim, though 2 goals short of the Hamburg game but no less impressive. If the explosive start of our Borussia wasn't enough, the neutral observer of Bundesliga football must be excited by the tight race between four teams for the number one spot, only one point apart with three teams tied at 40 points. Then again, the neutral observer isn't likely to read this and we don't really care as long as our young guns gives their all and the unspeakable blue team eventually collapses in turmoil and self-destruction.
60 minutes of dominant play were enough to banish the bogey 1899 Hoffenheim, which was rumoured by the media to be Dortmunds bogey team after only two victories in the past eight matches since 2008. With 3:1 goals and Kevin Großkreutz and Shinji Kagawa as the most successful ghostbusters in this match, Borussia Dortmund continued his series of meanwhile nine matches without a defeat and strengthened its position beside the "top teams" Sch**ke 04 and Bayern Munich, which go now head to head with 40 points at the top of the championship table.
It was the Cup-season 07/08 when we first encountered that team from down south in our beloved Westfalenstadion. The result then? A 3:1 victory for us and the next round in the Cup. Since then Hoffenheim has managed to climb up to the first Bundesliga and made us go mad every once in a while.
While I was writing my "looking back onto the year 2011" text, I remembered all the great moments we had during that year. And I realised that the year 2012 would have a damn hard time to be close to as great as the year 2011 had been. But it looks like the year 2012 is not satisfied to only be maybe one of the greatest years in our history, no, it is trying hard to bring us just as much joy as 2011 did- with an amazing victory against Hamburg IN Hamburg.
The start of the second half of the Bundesliga season will be a very special one. Borussia plays away at Hamburg but has to make it without a big part of their supporters. Due to the expensive ticket prices in Hamburg, the "Kein Zwanni" campaign called out for a boycott. This is why most of the fans of the Ballspielverein will travel to Hamburg, however, will stay outside the stadium equipped with several radios to only hear what is going on inside of the stadium. Additionally, the ultras of the HSV will remain silent from minutes 46 to 55 to express the feeling of having a football match without any fans due to high ticket prices. Football must remain affordable, for all!
2011 was a hell of a year. Not only that Borussia Dortmund won the championship in May and celebrated it big time, but even in the first half of the season that followed, the Deutscher Meister underlined his great performance of season 2010/2011 by going into the break on the second rank. The trip to Champions League grounds was a wild run which ended early, but since Tuesday, we got several lasting impressions for the rest of the year. One: Borussia can score penalties. Two: Borussia can win in cup competitions. Three: Even with several personal problems, the team is still able to play a good ball. Four (not a new one): We have one of the most awesome teams in Borussia's history.
And of course our Dortmunder Jungs will do everything to make this wish come true. It's gonna be a difficult task for sure, after all it has been a long year with little downs and many, many ups. But there comes a time when everyone needs a rest and after this amazing first half of the Bundesliga season, and a difficult time in the Championsleague, our boys have the chance to qualify for the next round in the German Cup and then have their well deserved break. The task? Miss Fortuna from Düsseldorf- a short trip into the capital of our state NRW. After we had beaten Dresden at home, and hence stayed in the Cup a little while longer than we usually do, our next task isn't any less attractive for us fans from Dortmund.
29, 30, 30, 27, 43, 32, 34. What sounds like yesterday's lottery numbers, is Borussia Dortmund's points at the end of each half of the season since Jürgen Klopp became head coach in 2008. This year's two points on average is a proof of extreme stability -- and a bit surprising given the problems we had in the beginning of this round. Remember: After a bitter 1-2 in Hanover on game day six, Borussia was in the middle of nowhere on the boards, having only seven points but three losses already. A series of eleven undefeated games in a row including Saturday's win in Freiburg makes the team finish second, trailing three points behind Bayern Munich. A more than satisfying end of the Bundesliga in 2011.
Wednesday, December the 21st 2011. Just a few days before Christmas, Borussia had already advanced to the quarter finals of the German DFB cup. The only thing missing is an opponent. After the rest of the cup matches had been played, the drawing took place on national television. Alongside Borussia, Hertha BSC Berlin, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Holstein Kiel, VfB Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, TSG Hoffenheim and SpVgg Greuther Fürth are part of the quarter finals. After it was decided that Holstein Kiel will be the next opponent of Borussia, television cameras present the team from the fourth league celebrating the fact that they will face the Deutscher Meister in February. Everything seems fine, Kiel is happy, Borussia is happy... until we hear the familiar sounds of the popular chant "BVB Hurensöhne" (meaning "BVB sons of bitches"). The players of Holstein Kiel did not think about being on TV and kept singing and the whole situation is of course taken up by the media over the following days. At least it is winter break and journalists need something to write about.
There isn’t really much to be said about the game itself but so much more about everything around it. It was cold, very cold. It wasn’t pretty but a piece of hard work and at the end of the week, we found ourselves at the top of the table, having repeated once again what we had done for the last three games in a row: beating Nuremberg 2:0.
What a great start into the season it has been. The defeat of Hamburg sent a deafening thunder across the country, announcing our return to the weekly circus of the Bundesliga. The roaring continued last week against pitifully Hoffenheim, though 2 goals short of the Hamburg game but no less impressive. If the explosive start of our Borussia wasn't enough, the neutral observer of Bundesliga football must be excited by the tight race between four teams for the number one spot, only one point apart with three teams tied at 40 points. Then again, the neutral observer isn't likely to read this and we don't really care as long as our young guns gives their all and the unspeakable blue team eventually collapses in turmoil and self-destruction.
60 minutes of dominant play were enough to banish the bogey 1899 Hoffenheim, which was rumoured by the media to be Dortmunds bogey team after only two victories in the past eight matches since 2008. With 3:1 goals and Kevin Großkreutz and Shinji Kagawa as the most successful ghostbusters in this match, Borussia Dortmund continued his series of meanwhile nine matches without a defeat and strengthened its position beside the "top teams" Sch**ke 04 and Bayern Munich, which go now head to head with 40 points at the top of the championship table. 
It was the Cup-season 07/08 when we first encountered that team from down south in our beloved Westfalenstadion. The result then? A 3:1 victory for us and the next round in the Cup. Since then Hoffenheim has managed to climb up to the first Bundesliga and made us go mad every once in a while.
While I was writing my "looking back onto the year 2011" text, I remembered all the great moments we had during that year.
The start of the second half of the Bundesliga season will be a very special one. Borussia plays away at Hamburg but has to make it without a big part of their supporters. Due to the expensive ticket prices in Hamburg, the "Kein Zwanni" campaign called out for a boycott. This is why most of the fans of the Ballspielverein will travel to Hamburg, however, will stay outside the stadium equipped with several radios to only hear what is going on inside of the stadium. Additionally, the ultras of the HSV will remain silent from minutes 46 to 55 to express the feeling of having a football match without any fans due to high ticket prices. Football must remain affordable, for all!
2011 was a hell of a year. Not only that Borussia Dortmund won the championship in May and celebrated it big time, but even in the first half of the season that followed, the Deutscher Meister underlined his great performance of season 2010/2011 by going into the break on the second rank. The trip to Champions League grounds was a wild run which ended early, but since Tuesday, we got several lasting impressions for the rest of the year. One: Borussia can score penalties. Two: Borussia can win in cup competitions. Three: Even with several personal problems, the team is still able to play a good ball. Four (not a new one): We have one of the most awesome teams in Borussia's history.
And of course our Dortmunder Jungs will do everything to make this wish come true. It's gonna be a difficult task for sure, after all it has been a long year with little downs and many, many ups. But there comes a time when everyone needs a rest and after this amazing first half of the Bundesliga season, and a difficult time in the Championsleague, our boys have the chance to qualify for the next round in the German Cup and then have their well deserved break. The task? Miss Fortuna from Düsseldorf- a short trip into the capital of our state NRW. After we had beaten Dresden at home, and hence stayed in the Cup a little while longer than we usually do, our next task isn't any less attractive for us fans from Dortmund. 
