DORTMUND (dpa-AFX) - Julian Brandt has declared second place in the league as Borussia Dortmund's goal for the end of the year. After a near-perfect Bundesliga weekend for BVB, the attacking player believes his team is well equipped for the two remaining games at SC Freiburg and against Borussia Monchengladbach. "I would like us to try to overtake Leipzig again before Christmas," Brandt said after the 2-0 (1-0) win against direct rivals TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Sunday evening.

With Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Bayer Leverkusen, who are all behind Dortmund, also losing on matchday 13, Dortmund, in third place in the Bundesliga, extended their lead over fourth place to five points. Leipzig, who still have to play 1. FC Union Berlin and Leverkusen this year, are still one point ahead of Dortmund. "It was a BVB weekend," rejoiced sporting director Sebastian Kehl.

Kehl sees "BVB weekend"

For BVB, it was the perfect response to their cup exit last Tuesday against Leverkusen, even though winning the DFB Cup had been their stated goal. "We've certainly had a couple of turbulent days," Kehl admitted. Brandt, who scored the 1-0 goal against Hoffenheim (43rd minute), draws a positive conclusion despite the disappointment in the cup: "Overall, we are extremely satisfied. I've been here before in very different final weeks of the year with only ten healthy players and 22 points from 15 or 16 games." Currently, they have 28 points from 13 games.

"In recent years, we've always gone into the winter trailing behind. Now it's good that we're winning most of our games," Brandt told DAZN.

Brandt criticizes team's performance

However, the 29-year-old, whose contract expires next summer, still sees room for improvement in the way the team plays. "To be honest, that's not my style of playing soccer. Sometimes I just have to accept that," said Brandt, who would like to see "more possession and more control and maybe fewer high balls."

However, the BVB attacking player was referring primarily to the game against Hoffenheim, in which the team adapted too much to the style of play. "Of course, it's still good that we are able to adapt and win a game," Brandt said./lap/DP/zb