Has Niko Kovač built a platform for a great new year for Borussia Dortmund?
As Niko Kovač nears a year in charge of Borussia Dortmund, there are signs of something special in the making at Signal Iduna Park. With a defensive steeliness making them extremely hard to beat and a range of top attacking options, confidence is high.
As unwanted as the nine-point gap over the winter break to league leaders Bayern Munich is from a Dortmund perspective, there has been a dramatic improvement over the past 12 months.
BVB began 2025 - after Matchday 16 of last season - in eighth and battling to stay in contention for European qualification. They went on to finish fourth and qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and go into 2026 in second with their best points total after 15 matches of a campaign for seven years (32).
Watch: Dortmund beat Gladbach in final match before winter break
Kovač took charge at the end of January, and it is clear to see the key to their upward trajectory since - a sense of defensive discipline that has made Dortmund a tougher team to break down as the year has gone on.
Indeed, BVB have lost just one of their last 23 Bundesliga games dating back to March, a 2-1 Klassiker defeat in Munich in October. With just 12 goals conceded from their opening 15 league matches this term, Dortmund are proving to be a match for their big rivals in the defensive stakes, with only Bayern letting in fewer goals so far (11).
That has understandably won the Croatian coach and former defensive midfielder approval from up high, with managing director for sport Lars Ricken saying: "You shouldn't forget where we were before Niko came. Since April we have only lost in Barcelona, against Real Madrid in the Club World Cup, in Munich, against Manchester City and Leverkusen [in the DFB Cup].
"We have taken a lot of controlled wins with mature, perhaps slightly pragmatic football. Niko deserves our faith. We want to build with him and improve the team further."
That defensive bedrock is unlikely to go anywhere as Dortmund seek to recover some of the distance on Bayern in the new year. Gregor Kobel has already claimed eight clean sheets this season - one more than in the 2024/25 campaign - putting his Bundesliga personal best of 11 shutouts in 2022/23 in line to be bettered in the spring.
With central defensive pair Nico Schlotterbeck and Waldemar Anton in inspired form in front of Kobel, Dortmund are well on course for a top-four spot and will hope to go as far as possible in the UEFA Champions League, where they are 19-goal top scorers, despite Ricken's admission that the team's more pragmatic approach "doesn't always mean spectacular football - we will work on that".
With Serhou Guirassy capable of explosive bursts of scoring, Karim Adeyemi becoming a dependable threat under Kovač, and the experience of Julian Brandt and Marcel Sabitzer being complemented by talented 20-year-old Jobe Bellingham finding his feet, all the components are there for Dortmund to step up a few gears in attack in the remainder of the season.
The ever-rational Kovač has been clear that attacking is not the only duty of his midfield and forward stars, however, saying: "What's important is that defending is not only about your goalkeeper and defenders. It starts up front with the strikers. That's what I try to impress upon the guys. Every top team in Europe must defend collectively to be successful."
Watch: All Serhou Guirassy's goals so far in 2025/26
Determination all over the pitch is the Kovač mantra. If Dortmund take that to heart and continue to improve at the same rate into his second year in charge, they truly will become a force to be reckoned with over the course of 2026 - and perhaps even move a little closer to the big aim of ending the wait for their first league title since 2011/12.
Their first chance to pick up further steam in the new year comes in a big season re-opener at Eintracht Frankfurt on 9 January (kick-off: 8.30pm CET).
Related news
Where are the players spending their winter breaks?
The Bundesliga stars have around two weeks off to enjoy Christmas and New Year. See what they've been up to!
Bundesliga transfer centre: January 2026
A handy overview of all the confirmed deals in Germany's top flight this winter...
Bundesliga winter break explained
When and why does the German top tier break? When's the restart? And why you should be excited...