The situation had not really calmed down on the day after the Bundesliga duel between the two Borussias, which was marked by great emotions.

On Sunday morning, Dortmund's managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke sat in a round of TV regulars called “Doppelpass” and cursed the referee Deniz Aytekin, who whistled at the center of the considerations in Borussia Mönchengladbach's 1-0 win against BVB.

Aytekin appeared “like a bandmaster”, angrily Watzke, “his gestures and facial expressions add to the hectic pace”.

The evening before, the referee had given the game a certain direction by a controversial and by no means absolutely necessary dismissal in the 40th minute.

And not in the spirit of the fairest possible game management, Aytekin acted with the motive of an educator.

Annoyance at BVB

He wanted to “set an example”, explained the 43-year-old business economist after the Dortmund resident Mahmoud Dahoud, who had already been warned with a yellow card, commented on a perfectly correct free kick whistle with an annoyed wave of the hand. Raphael Guerreiro had already reacted to a decision by Aytekins with a similar gesture, whereupon he issued a clear warning to show yellow for the next action of this kind.

"I just don't want this constant waving for myself", explained the referee. However, the fact that he used such an important game, which can ultimately have an impact on the title fight, to promote a different cooperation, angered the Dortmunders very much. Especially since it was an evening of emotional extremes after coach Marco Rose returned to his former club and was received there with deep dislike, insults and whistles.

Under the circumstances of such a charged situation, a referee should "have a calming effect on the players," said Watzke, but the clearest words came from the man who was actually most emotionally affected by this game: Marco Rose.

The situation is "complex", said the BVB coach, "Mr. Aytekin is of course right that we don't need it."

He made his own experience as a referee at training matches, in which he would never accept derogatory gestures as a reaction to his decisions, reported Rose.

However, it is about a "line" that is missing at this point: "The principle is correct, but then I have to do it in all Bundesliga stadiums and on all match days."

Aytekin, however, did not even hold out this line in this one game because he initially only reacted to Guerreiro's behavior with an oral admonition and then sent Dahoud straight to the shower.

Even the Gladbach coach Adi Hütter admitted that he would have been "annoyed" if his team had been decimated in this way.

The joy of Gladbach over the second win of the season did not spoil that.