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Borussia Dortmund’s Niko Kovač happy with fight in loss to Bayern Munich

DORTMUND, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 28: Borussia Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac gestures during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munchen at Signal Iduna Park on February 28, 2026 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Borussia Dortmund head coach Niko Kovač has a long history as a player and a coach at Bayern Munich, so when his BVB squad battled toe-to-toe with the mighty Bavarians during a 3-2 loss, the manager was happy with the effort.

Sure, Kovač would have preferred a win, but after a shocking elimination at the hands of Atalanta in the Champions League earlier this week, the Borussia Dortmund boss wanted to see intensity and focus — and he got just that.

“After the game in Bergamo, today’s performance was really good. The team put up a strong fight and truly deserves a compliment. On the other side is FC Bayern Munich. Just look at the first goal: the way Josh finds Serge, the way he then sets up the third, that’s world-class. That’s ultimately the difference, which was also evident today. Nevertheless, I want to expressly compliment my team. I’ve already told them that, because they fought with everything they had today. Bayern really had to stretch themselves to come away with the win. With a bit of luck, you might draw a game like this. In the end, it’s that little bit of top quality, like that of Joshua Kimmich, that makes the difference,” Kovač said (as captured by FCBayern.com).

Borussia Dortmund is now likely out of the Bundesliga race, but the squad can at least walk away knowing they fought like hell to stay in it. If only BVB had not collapsed against Atalanta…


If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…

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