Borussia Dortmund's struggles highlight their fans' passion

One of Germany's powers end the weekend staring at last place in the Bundesliga, but that's not getting their fans down one iota, and it serves to highl

In the last five years, Borussia Dortmund have won the Bundesliga twice, the German Cup once, and have been to a Champions League final, which they lost to arch-rivals Bayern Munich. Expectations were high again this season, as fans hoped to see their beloved BVB challenge Bayern for the league again after finishing second again last season, but 19 points behind Bayern.

Now, with the calendar turning to December and 13 league matches in the books, things have not gone according to plan. Domestically, their season has been a disaster.

Dortmund are dead last in the Bundesliga, 18th out of 18 teams after losing 2-0 to Frankfurt. They've won just 11 points from 13 games, scoring only 14 goals and surrendering 21. A vicious run of injuries has left their squad threadbare, and despite their strong form in the Champions League, they've dropped points left, right, and center in the league.

While normally you'd expect the fans to be incensed at results like this, that hasn't been the case:

@DortmundAmerica Hard to believe but we just gotta keep on supporting the team, nothing else we can do

— Dortmund USA (@DortmundUSA) November 30, 2014

That's the attitude that's been sweeping the Dortmund fanbase over the last few weeks. Sure, there's been plenty of head-scratching and hand-wringing as fans try to assimilate what they're seeing and find a solution. But instead of gnashing their teeth and getting angry, as you might expect, by and large they're uniting behind the club and supporting Dortmund as voraciously as ever.

true love http://ift.tt/1rLlHFg

— Dortmund America (@DortmundAmerica) November 30, 2014

Where many would expect fans to be angry at the state of their club, Dortmund fans are instead rallying around their team, showing love rather than rage. That kind of support is something that can buoy a club in the darker times, especially when you've got fans like Dortmund does who can channel their emotions and put on incredible displays in the stands, using banners and chants and passion that's difficult to rival anywhere else. Fans like that are one of the things that make football great.

Sometimes those fan emotions end ugly, like when Atlético Madrid fans fought with Deportivo la Coruña fans this weekend, leaving one fan dead, or when the same happened between Napoli and Roma fans last season, before a match that Roma wasn't even involved in. When passion meets passion, sometimes ugly things come out of it.

But when that dark side is kept in check, fans can do some wonderful things. Even with Dortmund's struggles, their fans have been loud in the stadium, and supportive off it. Their drive to help the team succeed is incredibly admirable, and if Dortmund manage to turn this season around, it will be in large part because of their fans' love and support.

from SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/11Ifk9o