Kovac tempers Dortmund's title expectations despite Heidenheim triumph

Niko Kovac struck a cautious tone when asked about Borussia Dortmund’s prospects of winning the Bundesliga title in the 2025-26 season.

Kovac watched on as his side delivered a 2-0 victory over early-season strugglers Heidenheim on Saturday, with first-half goals from Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier sealing the win. 

Dortmund's hopes of a second win of the season were helped in the 21st minute by Budu Zivzivadze, who received a straight red card after a late tackle on Felix Nmecha. 

Guirassy had to have his say in the match, with his header past Diant Ramaj representing the eighth consecutive game he has found the back of the net in the Bundesliga.

In fact, among all non-German players in Bundesliga history, only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (10) and Robert Lewandowski (four times, with a record streak of 15) have recorded longer scoring runs.

Dortmund were worthy of their victory in the end, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.76 from their 17 shots to Heidenheim's measly 0.4 from their six shots. 

Ahead of kick-off, Kovac made it clear that his intention was to re-establish Dortmund as title contenders, having failed to win the Bundesliga since 2011-12 under Jugren Klopp.

After taking seven points from their first three games, Dortmund are two points adrift of champions Bayern Munich, who thumped Hamburg 5-0 earlier in the day. 

The Opta supercomputer hands Dortmund a 14.9% chance of lifting the title this year, a total only bettered by Bayern (67.5%), and Kovac did not want to get carried away.

"I'm a bit older. I'm not going to let myself be led onto thin ice," Kovac said, pointing out to Dortmund's 25-point deficit to champions Bayern Munich last season.

"We have to make sure we secure a spot in the Champions League as quickly as possible."

Kovac also stressed that after three games, no club has been promoted, no club has been relegated, and no one has become champion yet.

However, his team's performances have shown reason for optimism, though his focus will now turn to the first game of their Champions League campaign. 

Dortmund make the trip to Allianz Stadium on Tuesday to take on Juventus, who have taken maximum points from their opening three fixtures in Serie A. 

But goalscorer Beier believes that should his team-mates replicate their performance against Heidenheim, they can get off to a winning start against Igor Tudor's team. 

"We're very satisfied with two goals and a clean sheet. The red card was decisive. When you are a man up for almost the entire game, it makes it significantly easier," Beier said.

"We want to compete at the top throughout the season, so the victory today was very important. We want to stay in this flow against Juventus, which won't be easy.

"But if we now keep playing full of confidence, then I think we're in with a chance of three points."