Okay, maybe to give the whole atmosphere-around-the-club-thing a little perspective: I'm a lifelong Dortmund supporter, having been raised in the city and never thought about supporting any other German club. My dad always had a soft spot for Liverpool, I guess due to the Kop being the cradle of today's way of supporting your team with chants and banners and all that. And probably also the glamour around the teams of the 70s and 80s. So he passed his passion on to me.
Whenever I had seen some Premier League highlights (which were way less common to get to see in Germany in the early 00s of course) of, say, Bergkamp or van Nistelrooy or what have you and was excited about it, he would always go: "Well not bad, sounds pretty good. But who the hell likes ManU/Arsenal? Those are strange clubs". I didn't stand a chance to be fair. If Dad says so, it's probably right. So all the other German kids interested in international football fancied Arsenal's one-touch invincibles. And then there was me, not getting it. Like "really? Arsenal? How?"
Of course accessibility has grown and these days I barely miss a game. Considering broadcasting rights in the UK I probably have better access to live games than most english native supporters
Well, that's the short short version of how I ended up on this site. So here's my take on the atmosphere in the ground and around the club in a title challenge.
One can say I can't join the conversation, since I haven't been waiting for a league title for 29 years. And that is actually right, I can't argue with that. I have only started watching EVERY Liverpool game when Klopp took over. Because I was hoping for and kind of anticipating what we are witnessing now. I mean, I had seen it before (the timing of his arrival also coincided with great accessibility of international football in Germany, so that played into it as well). So I am joining the conversation, especially because Dortmund are also challenging again this season. And I follow Liverpool's more closely because I'm more excited about it. But I sense fundamental differences reading on this forum and being in touch with everything going on in Dortmund.
My best example of what "title challenges" feel like in this city is this season's Bayern-game (was too early back then to actually call it a "challenge" I would say). I was at that game and what went on on the terraces was indescribable. Bayern completely dominated that first half and it all looked like the season was back to taking its usual course. Did I really believe at halftime we could turn this game around and make it a proper title challenge? Fuck no! But it didn't matter. Not to anyone in the stadium did that matter. We were willing the team on, if we're going down we're going down the hard way. And boy did the lads come out firing! Quick equalizer and the ground was shaking and bouncing. And then -of course- right when we started believing maybe this could even work out for us, Bayern went ahead again just three minutes later. The entire ground (apart from the away end that is) went dead silent for like five seconds. But only for everyone to then simultaneously get off their seats and shout the team on again. It was just random noise and Come on!s but it did the job. It was clear that no heads were going to drop and every mistake was going to be forgiven, as long as everyone gave it their all until the final whistle goes. At that point, I clearly didn't believe we were going to win. But I still wouldn't transport these emotions to the lads, how is that ever going to help anyone? In Dortmund this is the way we do it. There's never a sentiment of "maybe we're gonna fuck up" in the stadium. I think it used to be the same in Liverpool, I mean come on. It's still where support comes from and it's why my dad loves the club. And therefore, it's why I do, too.
Yes, waiting for a title for almost 30 years is something else compared to having won it three times this millennium. But we had been waiting for 32 years until we won the Bundesliga for the first time in 95. We fell short in heartbreaking fashion in 92, being top like 5 minutes before the end of the season. Still, the fans gathered to celebrate the team like they had won something and chanted "German champions will only be BVB" (hard to translate as it's an uncommon formulation in German as well).
So I understand that I'm an outsider in this conversation and am just so full of hope and joy and not waiting as desperately as you guys are. But what happens on the terraces transfers onto the pitch, you can really trust everyone saying that (especially if it's the captain and manager of this club). People going to the games right now do have a great responsibility. If anyone can get me tickets, I'll be happy to show I'm not just talking the talk (I know it's not happening, but just to point it out). But that's not what this is about, you lads and lasses don't need anyone to show you how to support your team going for a big one. You just need to take a deep breath and put your focus on the right mindset before going to a game. What anyone writes on here, I don't think that has much of an effect on the way things are going.
If City are top before the Bournemouth game, so what? It's not going to have any effect on the outcome of that game. But the way the supporters would respond to that I'm sure would have an impact.
