Like a book whose messages only become recognizable at second glance or with the help of intimate connoisseurs of the author, a football game can also tell very different stories.

Borussia Dortmund's 4: 2 against Union Berlin was initially perceived as another BVB spectacle.

The season is still young, but Dortmund have already won 5: 2, 4: 3, 3: 2 and now 4: 2;

When Marco Rose's team is on the pitch, there's a lot going on at the gates.

This football evening could also be understood as a further chapter in the superhero story of Erling Haaland, in the second game in a row the striker scored a goal with his head, whereupon coach Rose said: “If he gets the quality now, then congratulations to everyone else who are still waiting for us. ”The head ball game was a weakness of the Norwegian for a long time, now the exercises on this topic seem to be having an effect. And Haaland's second goal, the 4: 2 by lob when falling over the Berlin goalkeeper Luthe into the far corner, was a world class goal.

If you wanted, you could also use this fifth matchday as a moment for a first balance sheet, with four wins in the league and first successes in the DFB Cup and Champions League, the season started with the new coach.

The basis for an exciting title fight with BVB participation has been created.

Zorc complains, Reus demands

And yet there was a great deal of thought in the words that those involved chose after the final whistle.

After a comfortable 3-0 lead through goals from Guerreiro, Haaland and an own goal by Friedrich from Berlin, the team “let the reins slide,” complained sports director Michael Zorc, and captain Marco Reus said: “We have to be much smarter and play more grown-up . "

In the middle of the second half this strange unreliability had shown up again, about which the Dortmunders have been annoyed for years. With such a clear lead behind them, a top team would have to "play to death" the almost defeated opponent, said Mats Hummels. And not by retreating into a stable defensive position, but by dominating with the ball; this saves energy. Instead, however, BVB “fell into old fashion”.

Rose, who was brought to Dortmund not least to develop the team at precisely this point, was also very annoyed, but held back with criticism. "If I were doing Zinnober every week now, we would get a negative mood that we don't need," he said. Rather, the coach thanked the players for having recognized for themselves how nervous they had been with their leadership.

Hummels even used the evening to touch an old but still open wound. The defense chief, who also revealed that he currently has to pack his sensitive knee joints in ice not only after games, but even after every training session, drew the comparison to the big competitor from Munich. "The one difference between FC Bayern and us is that eleven players stay sharp for over 90 minutes at Bayern," said Hummels, while BVB have started to play "dubious and not success-oriented". Once again. At least one step forward is that such debates are now being conducted after victories and not in a state of irritation over lost points.

But that didn't change the fact that the duel with Union had cost a lot of energy, which is not so bad a week ago without the European Cup. But in autumn the fatigue will come, so the team must "try to make things easier for themselves in the future because we have to save energy," said Rose, whose team had another long-term problem that evening: the defensive again two goals conceded after set pieces - which is possibly another symptom of the same basic problem. BVB allow themselves too many phases and moments of negligence, and that has not changed under the new coach.