Dortmund defender Süle flags up a lack of intensity in Bundesliga after Champions League success
Borussia Dortmund has thrived on the Champions League stage against Paris Saint‐Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle. Now comes the tricky part — Augsburg away on a Saturday afternoon.
After Wednesday's 1‐1 draw with PSG ensured Dortmund fin‐ ished on top of what was ar‐ guably the Champions League's most difficult group, defender Niklas Süle admitted the team has lacked the same intensity in some Bundesliga games.
Dortmund topped its Champi‐ ons League group but in the Bundesliga Edin Terzic's team is fifth and 11 points off leader Bayer Leverkusen.
Süle was a standout performer against PSG, sliding at full stretch to keep out a Kylian Mbappe shot headed for goal. In the Bundesliga, though, the Dortmund defense has not gone a full game without conceding a goal since Oct. 20.
In nearly two months since then, Dortmund has earned five points from six Bundesliga games, conceded 15 goals in total, and was knocked out of the German Cup by Stuttgart, too.
So is Dortmund raising its game for the Champions League, underperforming in Germany, or both?
There have certainly been no easy games in recent weeks as Dortmund lost to Bayern Munich and Leipzig and drew with leader Bayer Leverkusen. Stuttgart is flying high in third place and far exceeding expecta‐ tions, but Dortmund has still lost twice to a team it would nor‐ mally be expected to beat.
Dortmund heads to ninth‐ placed Augsburg on Saturday and then to relegation‐threat‐ ened Mainz on Tuesday for its last two league games before the winter break.
Sporting director Sebastian Kehl was dismissive of Süle's suggestion that the Champions League occasion made much dif‐ ference.
After Bayern was stunned 5‐1 by Eintracht Frankfurt last week, Leverkusen is the last re‐ maining unbeaten team in any of Europe's main five national leagues. Its lead over Bayern stands at four points, though Bayern has one game extra to play.
It's Leverkusen's turn to take on Frankfurt on Sunday, seeking a win after back‐to‐back draws with Dortmund and Stuttgart.
After beating Manchester United 1‐0 on Tuesday, Bayern takes on Stuttgart in a game that will test whether Stuttgart truly belongs in the battle for the Champions League places.
Captain Lautaro and Inter Milan keen to upgrade contract in season
World Cup winner Lautaro Martínez has two targets: To score 100 goals this season and to renew his contract with Inter Milan.
One is more realistic than the other.
Inter is in discussions with its star striker on a new five‐year contract and when asked if it could be sorted before the new year, Lautaro said he would gladly sign a new deal "tomor‐ row" and is very close to finalis‐ ing the details.
Lautaro was in buoyant mood in the recent interview with Ital‐ ian broadcaster Sportmediaset, which also asked him if he had a goalscoring target for this sea‐ son.
Lautaro has certainly stepped up this year and has grown fur‐ ther after being handed the cap‐ tain's armband by Inter in the summer.
While 100 goals should be out of reach, breaking the Serie A goal‐scoring record of 36 could be a distinct possibility.
Lautaro has 14 in 15 Serie A matches, and weighed in with four assists.
He has also netted twice in the Champions League. He started on the bench for Inter's match against Real Sociedad on Tues‐ day, and when he was brought on midway through the second half Inter instantly looked more threatening.
Lautaro almost scored a last‐ gasp winner but the match ended 0‐0 and Inter — last sea‐ son's runner‐up — had to settle for second in its Champions League group.
Inter leads Serie A, however, and Lautaro should be fresher and raring to go on Sunday when the Nerazzurri visit Lazio.
Lautaro scored three times in two matches against Lazio last season, but the capital team fin‐
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ished second in Serie A, two points above Inter.
Lazio has had mixed fortunes this season though and is lan‐ guishing in 10th place, 17 points behind the Nerazzurri.
Inter has two points more than second‐placed Juventus, which travels to relegation‐threatened Genoa on Friday.
The goal‐scoring chart is a lot less close, with Lautaro having netted six more goals than his nearest challenger, AC Milan for‐ ward Olivier Giroud.