BERLIN: Excelling in the Champions League, disappointing in the Bundesliga.
Borussia Dortmund suffered another domestic setback when they were held at Augsburg to 1-1 on Saturday just days after topping a Champions League group with Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle.
When asked how the team cannot maintain their good Champions League form in the Bundesliga, Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck answered, “I don’t know.”
Ermedin Demirović held off Schlotterbeck’s challenge — arguably with a shove — to fire Augsburg into a 23rd-minute lead.
Donyell Malen played a one-two with Niclas Füllkrug to equalize in the 35th.
Augsburg missed three good chances early in the second half before Dortmund coach Edin Terzić sent on Gio Reyna for Marco Reus in the 58th, then the 19-year-old Samuel Bamba for his Bundesliga debut in the 71st, but Dortmund were unable to grab a winner.
It’s Dortmund’s third straight Bundesliga game without a win, and their fifth across all competitions including a 1-1 draw with PSG on Wednesday.
Terzić’s team have won only one of their last seven Bundesliga games.
Dortmund, which came agonizingly close to ending Bayern Munich’s domestic dominance last season, can fall nine points behind the defending champion, and 13 behind league leader Bayer Leverkusen if Leverkusen beat Eintracht Frankfurt at home on Sunday.
Dortmund also risk falling further behind fourth-placed Leipzig in the race for Champions League qualification. Leipzig hosted Hoffenheim late Saturday.
TASTY TAKUMA
Fueled by chocolate from supporters’ protests, Takuma Asano scored to set up Bochum’s 3-0 win over visiting Union Berlin in their duel at the lower end of the table.
The Japan forward grabbed a chocolate coin that was among many thrown onto the field by fans protesting the league’s plans to bring in an outside investor, unwrapped the gold foil, and ate the chocolate inside.
Then Asano broke the deadlock in first-half injury time by firing Bochum ahead.
Gonçalo Paciência and Kevin Stöger — from a penalty — scored in the second half to deal Union their first league defeat under new coach Nenad Bjelica.
Also, Lovro Majer’s second-half goal was enough for 10-man Wolfsburg to beat Darmstadt 1-0, and Marvin Pieringer scored to give Heidenheim a 1-0 win in Mainz.
