Borussia Dortmund's rise from the ashes

However, the 21st century wasn’t too kind for the club as financial problems never seemed to leave their side and ultimately led to the sale of their stadium. It seemed to only get worse as they didn’t qualify for the Champions league in the ’02/03 season, losing out to Club Brugge in the qualifying stage.

Things got so out of hand that a loan from rivals Bayern Munich was what it took for the Dortmund players to get their salaries during the 2003 campaign. The club was in utter shambles. A few years down the road, they again struggled with bankruptcy and had to cut down salaries of the players until they had to rename their stadium “Signal Iduna Park” under a sponsorship agreement which helped stable their situation a little.

However, the supporters stood by the club despite the problems they faced and are known to be the most passionate supporters in all of Europe. Dortmund also boasts of having the highest average attendance of around 80 thousand whenever the team gets on the field.

Dortmund fans greet their team quite uniquely

The 2006/07 season saw them almost face relegation while the next season was termed to be their worst in 20 years. Managers walked in and walked out as they weren’t able to give them team any success. Soon, Jürgen Klopp took over in 2008 and little did the supporters know, that they had found their man.

The era of Klopp

The 2010/11 season was a revelation as the club won the title with two games to spare and guaranteed safe passage to the Champions league. A year later, they managed to defend their title, once again with two games to play. They also set the record for maximum number of points (81) by a German club in a season. They finished the season in style by winning the double for the first time, taking out Munich in the DFB Pokal final.

The next season however saw them lose out to Bayern in the league by a huge margin of 25 points and also face defeat in the Champions League final to them. What added salt to the wounds was Mario Goetze’s transfer to their rivals but the club didn’t let it bother them too much.

It seems as though it has been drilled into the people that one player doesn’t make a team, and that every time the players step onto the pitch, there’s no reason they can’t come out on top. And having a manager of such potential, simply makes them ooze with belief.

Like the saying goes, “if you cut though any of the Dortmund players, you’d find ‘black and yellow’ inside”. Such is the love the players have for the club and its fans who throng the stadiums day in, day out.

Currently feared by almost every club in the world, they have become a force to reckon and expectations rise from the club every time they get on the field.

Rising from the ashes to becoming a superpower – it does seem like a dream indeed.