By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, May 6 (Xinhua) -- While the 2019 German title seems to be gambled away with only two rounds left, fans and pundits debate about the future of Borussia Dortmund. Are they strong enough to deal with the disappointment this season?
Last November, coach Lucien Favre guided the team to a nine-point lead in the Bundesliga which surprisingly evaporated into a deficit of four points. Dortmund's young and inexperienced players and coach seem to lack the mental robustness.
The Swiss is accused of not having delivered enough motivation and emotions to survive an entire season on the highest level.
Former coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, 70, who won the Champions League with Dortmund in 1997 and Bayern in 2001, said it was a mistake "to avoid talking about the title."
"With nine points ahead, you have to win the title. But Dortmund this season failed to prove they can win the big games," the former Swiss national coach said.
Dortmund failed in crucial games against Werder Bremen in the last 16 of German Cup, the Bundesliga top-act against Bayern and the Champions League against Premier League outfits Tottenham Hotspurs.
"We too often wavered between brilliant and bad. We must find a way to deliver satisfying results constantly," midfielder Thomas Delaney said, adding "to still win this seasons title we need more than a miracle. But we are no dreamers."
For Dortmund, the football magazine Kicker called it "the wasted title chance," while other German media assume they started to miss-perform as soon as they were aware that they could lose something.
Dortmund declined from an average 2.59 goals per game in the first half season to 2.13 after the winter break. Instead of 119.1 kilometers, they ran 117.2, with fast runs down to 217 from 243.
CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said they have learned the lesson. Media reports said that Thorgan Hazard, brother of Chelsea star Eden Hazard, from Moenchengladbach, Kerem Demirbay (TSG Hoffenheim) and German international Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen) are close to a final deal.
Watzke said they will take up the battle for the German title in the 2019-20 season. "We are far from talking about a messed-up season. Don't forget our team is still developing and our coach only joined us 12 months ago."
Besides, the club will stick to coach Favre as he has "delivered great work developing a newly formed squad" and it has reached its main goal to qualify for the 2019-20 Champions League campaign.
"This is what our coaches achieved, he is the right one," Watzke said.
