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Dortmund chief content with experience gained from facing top European teams in preseason

· Sachin Bhat · 2026-08-16T15:31:27+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Borussia Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken wasn't expecting his side to come back from an early deficit against AS Roma on Saturday. The BVB drew 2-2 with the Serie A giants at home in their final preseason game of the summer as they fought back from two goals down to net twice and force a share of the spoils. Paulo Dybala slammed a fourth-minute opener for the Giallorossi before Bryan Cristante turned in a corner from the Argentine forward another five minutes later as Dortmund were in complete shambles. Trailing 2-0 inside the first 10 minutes of the game, it seemed like they were headed for a long evening but Julian Ryerson pulled one back after 12 minutes to reduce the deficit. The Norwegian ace, marking his first appearance of the preseason, controlled a pass from Daniel Svensson before driving it home from inside the box. In the 28th minute, he was back to doing what he does best i.e. provide an assist as Ryerson whipped in a free-kick for Guirassy to tap home and bring Dortmund level into the tie. Ricken was blown away by the frantic nature of the match during the initial exchanges but was happy to see his team come back into it and even dominate the proceedings until late on. Speaking to the press after the match, he said: "It was quite a spectacle, especially in the first half. After eight minutes, you naturally thought: Against an Italian team, the game is basically over. We then fought our way back and actually dominated the game until the 75th minute. " Having beaten Arsenal in the Emirates Cup the previous weekend, Dortmund faced Roma in another daunting clash here which tested their strengths and readiness ahead of season opener. Ricken feels playing against two top-tier European opponents has given BVB some momentum ahead of the Bayern showdown next week. "If we had won, it would have been well-deserved. With Arsenal and now Roma, we’ve faced two top European opponents, so we’re heading into the Super Cup against Bayern with a good feeling." Dortmund officially begin their campaign against Bayern in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup on 22 August at the Signal Iduna Park. In what's their first appearance in the one-off cup clash since 2021, the BVB have a chance of ending their trophy drought and picking up a silverware again. But it's far easier said than done against the reigning Bundesliga champions.