Fortuna Düsseldorf beats Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in friendly, begins rebuilding fan trust

BVB was far from playing at full strength — but that does not change the fact that the first arena appearance after relegation left fans wanting more. Against Dortmund (2-1), the new team of Alexander Ende (46) won two weeks before the start of the 3rd Liga, also taking the first step toward fan reconciliation.

Over 19,000 fans had already pledged their loyalty by ordering season tickets, and now Fortuna Düsseldorf must repay that trust with performances and results. That this is possible after the horror year with a completely new squad — currently featuring 14 new signings (with three to four more to come) — was shown by the match against the runners-up. The start was weak, but afterward the Ende team played really well and earned the win with goals from Fabian Schleusener (34) and Anas Slimani (19).

Zimmermann: "That Was Our Goal"

The performance also got the fans excited — 23,300 spectators were in attendance and are likely looking forward a bit more to the upcoming 19 home games in the 3rd Liga, even if the opponents will no longer be BVB, but teams like Fortuna Köln, TSV Havelse, or SG Sonnenhof Großaspach.

Matthias Zimmermann (34):

"Our goal was first of all to function again as a team, to act collectively on the pitch, to be there for each other, and to bring energy to the field. And beyond that, to excite or motivate the fans again by showing them that we are a team and having fun. That was the overarching goal against Dortmund, we showed and proved that — and that's exactly where we need to continue now."

For the first time since the match against Elversberg (2-1), Alexander Ende (46) returned to the arena with Fortuna. Photo: picture alliance/SNS

Of course, the wound of the horror season is very deep, and Fortuna will still have to work for a very long time to even come close to healing it. But what the new team has in its hands, it is currently implementing — because not only in the BVB test did the impression arise that it functions as a unit. Ende has also noticed this.

The coach:

"It was fun to be in the stadium for the first time with the new team and get a little taste of the atmosphere. With our first actions, the people were there — that's what we wanted to create. We want to show the people attacking football, and we did that after the first 20 minutes. We are going step by step in the right direction because the guys want to listen, implement, and show energy."

And so Fortuna is slowly fighting its way back to fan trust...