Borussia Dortmund wants to keep progressing with Kovac at the Club World Cup and reveals 'study' on Flu

The Borussia Dortmund that closed the European season in May is not, by a long shot, the same one that reached the Champions League final a year ago and lost to Real Madrid . However, the team that will make its Club World Cup debut this Tuesday against Fluminense has seen a rise in the first six months of 2025.

It was the second half of 2024 that damaged the season. Borussia Dortmund changed management on January 22, announcing the dismissal of Nuri Sahin. Croatian Niko Kovac was hired in his place.

The coach managed to get past Sporting in the Champions League play-offs and also eliminated Lille in the round of 16. In the next phase, however, the German team was unable to face Barcelona and was eliminated from the tournament.

The improvement since the Croatian's arrival has been noticeable since the Bundesliga. Kovac made his debut in the 21st round, when Borussia had eight wins, five draws and seven defeats and was in 11th place in the table.

The team finished fourth, behind Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and champions Bayern Munich, but qualified for the Champions League again. The team's performance under the new coach, however, contrasts with the first half of the league. Kovac finished the German Championship with nine wins, one draw and four defeats, a 66.6% success rate.

"The team is developing well. In technical, tactical, mental and physical terms, we are already on a very good path," he praised at the end of the season, but made the following reservation: "We are certainly not where we want to be yet. You couldn't expect that to happen. You have to give the players the time they need. The mentality, the approach, has changed."

The German club's sporting director, Sebastian Kehl, hopes that the Club World Cup will be used to develop the developments that began at the end of the season. "We will use the Club World Cup to continue working on these issues. However, I believe that, given the constellation of coach and team, and the objectives we have managed to achieve, the outlook is not as bad, nor as bleak as it has been portrayed for a while," he reflected.

He revealed that the club has done some research on its opponents. In addition to Fluminense, Ulsan HD (South Korea) and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) complete Group F.

"These are teams you don't face every day, teams you have to study intensely. We did that. Then there are the weather conditions and the time difference. But all of that is something we are happy to face because we have worked very hard to be able to participate in this competition," says Kehl. Borussia qualified via the UEFA rankings.

The team's main signing for the tournament (and for next season) is Jobe Bellingham, the Real Madrid star's brother, who has already played for the German club. "He's in full swing, having played a bit more than the others. He's a good guy, very open, but of course he also has the right mentality, discipline and professionalism. He made his mark in training, right from the first few days," assessed Kehl.

The 19-year-old contrasts with a "hardened" team. The line-up for the last match, the 3-0 win in the last round of the Bundesliga against Holstein Kiel, had an average age of 27.3.

Compared to Fluminense, who beat Internacional in the Brasileirão, however, Borussia is younger. The Rio de Janeiro team's lineup had an average age of 31.6 years in that match.

Some of Renato Gaúcho's starters are veterans: goalkeeper Fábio (44 years old), defenders Thiago Silva (40) and Thiago Santos (35), full-backs Samuel Xavier (35) and Renê (32), midfielder Ganso (35) and striker Everaldo (33).

Fábio, in fact, is the oldest player in the Club World Cup, followed by Thiago Silva. The youngest is from Urawa Red Diamonds, from Japan. He is midfielder Takeshi Wada, who turned 16 on June 5. After him is Borussia Dortmund winger Mathis Albert, who is 16 years and 27 days old.

Borussia Dortmund have a positive history against Brazilians, but were thrashed by Luxemburgo's Palmeiras

In total, Borussia Dortmund has played nine games against Brazilians. They have won four, drawn two and lost three. In official games, the club beat Cruzeiro in the 1997 World Cup. The Germans beat the team from Minas Gerais 2-0 in Tokyo.

In 1996, the opponent was Palmeiras , in the Euro-America Cup, a friendly tournament at the time. The São Paulo team won 6-1, under the command of Vanderlei Luxemburgo.