Smart investment pays off for Dortmund

Another week of football and another week of German dominance. We thought we were expecting a contest but the games against the Spanish giants and hence the results in the first leg of the semifinals at the Allianz Arena and the Signal Iduna Park suggested anything but.

So much so that a lot of them are already talking about a power shift in world football. I would still wait for a couple of more seasons for two reasons. One, for this to translate into more Champions League wins for German clubs and two, to understand how the national team benefits from this. Remember, the last time a German side won either the UEFA Euro or the FIFA World Cup was in 1996. Compare that to what Spain has been over the last decade -- you will see where I am coming from.

However, what these wins for the German clubs, especially that of Borussia Dortmund’s, emphasise is a feasible economic structure that’s got the ability to compete for trophies despite not wanting to throw money around. Let’s put it this way, the difference between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid on the night was as much as the difference in the wage bill between these two clubs.

The top scoring Pole in Robert Lewandowski costed them four million Euros and is now going to cost his suitors close to forty. They have sold earlier, by choice or chance, they have hence bought players at a bargain and they have competed very well under Jurgen Klopp, who himself was a fine capture from Mainz.

It wasn’t the case always though. In the year 2005, the club, at the backdrop of mounting debts was on the verge of bankruptcy. In Feburary that year chief executive Gerd Niebaum resigned after the club posted record losses the previous season. Failure to sustain their presence in the Champions League despite doing everything, including paying for big money transfers, meant they were consistently losing out on funds. So much so that at one stage, they even had to borrow funds from their rivals Bayern Munich to pay the wages.

That’s around the time when their saviour Dr Reinhard Rauball took over, not for the first time, and was leading a famous or rather an infamous meeting depending on how history wants to view it now, with investors at the Dusseldorf airport. That marathon meeting sowed the seeds of revival of a club with rich history in German football.

The first step of the plan was to convince the investors and hence allow Borussia to buy back a stake in the Westfalen stadium, which they had sold to a unit of German bank.

They had been unable to pay rent for the stadium since the start of that year and hence were hurried towards insolvency. That initial inflow allowed the club some breathing space from where they were able to start their life all over again.

In the transfer market, they didn’t have a choice. They had to let go of Christoph Metzelder for free because he wasn’t able to agree to the wages proposed. Bought an Alexander Frei for just over £4 million but not before selling Tomas Rosicky for more than double that value. The combined price of Jakub Blaszczykowski and Neven Subotic was £7 million.

Amidst the revival was a slump which prompted the board to make a managerial change in Jurgen Klopp who has since worked brilliantly with the club.

Klopp had spent his time playing for Mainz; managed and promoted Mainz too. Inflow of youth at terrific value in the transfer market was the way forward for the German and that meant Dortmund embraced pace and flair. From mid-table to closing in on the top-two to two successive Bundesliga titles, Klopp’s men have been tremendous. It helped them emerge from the shadows of the more illustrious teams in Germany and forced the world to sit up and take notice.

With their fans finalising their travel plans for the Wembley, the manager would insist they still have to visit the Santiago Bernebeu. But they have been there earlier this season and have done better than most. There will be a contest for sure this time around but there are enough reasons to suggest the Germans are making winning a habit.

The writer is sports editor and senior presenter with Neo Sports.Follow him on Twitter @RK_sports