Dortmund (Germany) (AFP)

Ten weeks without the Bundesliga have hardly changed the balance of power: despite the heavy sanitary protocol, Borussia Dortmund regained the grounds with appetite by winning behind closed doors the "Ruhr derby" against Schalke, with a double by Raphaël Guerreiro.

Thanks to remarkably constructed goals from Erling Haaland (29th), Guerreiro (45th, 63rd) and Thorgan Hazard (49th), the Black and Yellow temporarily return to a point of the leader Munich, who opposed the Union Berlin on Sunday in this 26th day which marks the resumption of the German Championship after two months of interruption linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

Led by young German international midfielder Julian Brandt, author of two assists and the start of the other two goal actions, Borussia confirmed his form before the break. Since January and transfers from midfielder Emre Can and goalscorer Erling Haaland, the team has won eight of its nine league games, with 32 goals scored (3.5 goals per game).

This derby, which usually unleashes passions in the Ruhr area and much beyond, sounded hollow this year, in the gigantic deserted enclosure of Signal Iduna Park. And even the Borussia hymn "You'll Never Walk Alone" played before the match seemed strange: Dortmund did play alone, for the first time in its history.

- "Health disaster" -

At the final whistle, the Borussia players went to make an ola in front of the south bend, the legendary "Yellow Wall", which responded with the mineral silence of its empty stands. The same ones where usually 24,000 fans scream, in the largest standing stand in Europe.

"Better matches behind closed doors to slow the progression of the epidemic than a health catastrophe, it is better than nothing", declared to the AFP a passionate supporter of the BVB, Nicole Bartelt, wisely left to see the match on TV with a couple of friends.

On the lawn, the players did not seem disturbed by the unusual conditions. Despite the absence of several major players, Emre Can and Axel Witsel in the middle, or Marco Reus in attack, the men of coach Lucien Favre have shown superiority in all areas. Strong and rigorous in defense, well organized, they scored four times on school actions: attacks built opening in depth / center / recovery, or transitions played at 100 an hour.

- Leipzig trapped at home -

"Obviously, we would have preferred normal conditions, but in the end, football remains football and we try to have fun," simply commented Julian Brandt, one of the heroes of the day, in an interview on Sky in compliance with instructions: several meters from the journalist and with a three-meter pole to carry the microphone, itself wrapped in a transparent film.

"We had a small advantage, added Brandt, we had already played behind closed doors in Paris (in the Champions League in March, note) and we knew this feeling of silence in the stadium".

In the other matches of this recovery, it was Leipzig who made the bad deal, conceding at home a draw in Friborg (1-1), after having been led for a long time. This small point brings the RB to four lengths from Bayern, but risks ruining the chances of the Saxons' title if the Bavarians win Sunday in Berlin.

Mönchengladbach, who are six points behind in fourth place in the Champions League, plays at 6.30pm in Frankfurt against Eintracht. A victory would allow Alassane Pléa and Marcus Thuram's teammates to steal third place on the podium in Leipzig.

© 2020 AFP