They say that history is written by the winners, but it never felt, before this season, as if Borussia Dortmund would be in the position to pick up their pen. Now, it might be different. It felt that way when Nico Schlotterbeck, the crown prince of defensive drama in these parts, saw Timo Werner’s late shot speed past Alexander Meyer, Dortmund’s stand-in goalkeeper, and reacted to clear off the line with a mixture of chest and shoulder, all but sealing the win. Schlotterbeck clenched his fists, celebrating it like a goal.
It wasn’t quite Roman Weidenfeller smothering Arjen Robben’s penalty late on when Bayern visited Westfalen in the spring of 2012, but it was in the same sphere of emotion. And emotion was what it was all about in those closing stages as BVB hung on with a grimness almost all thought was beyond them as RB Leipzig banged on the door with increasing insistence, particularly so after Emil Forsberg pulled a goal back with 16 minutes of normal time left.
