”Stop Moaning! We Are Not Criminals” Dortmund Players Tell Fans

Borussia Dortmund players have expressed displeasure at the attitude of frustrated fans, who booed the team throughout Wednesday’s Champions League 1-2 home defeat to Zenit.

Last year’s finalist advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals, but not without a scare from the visitors in the second leg of the round of 16.

Despite playing at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion, Zenit scored first and won 2-1, creating a nervous ending as Dortmund advanced on 5-4 aggregate score. This did not please the home fans, who expressed their frustration to the Dortmund players throughout the match and now those players are complaining about that treatment as it has upset some members of the team.

“I really do not like this. Every time we lost possession you could hear moans in the crowd,” their midfielder Kevin Grosskreutz said.

“We do not need moans, we need support. Afterwards you can whistle but during the game we need the support.”

Team captain Sebastian Kehl said: “Some in the team are really affected by this.”

“A home game should be a positive experience and not feel as if we have committed some sort of crime.”

Their coach, Jürgen Klopp, agreed, saying: “We as Borussia Dortmund have to learn that a great success sometimes is hidden in a 2-1 defeat. In the last eight, there is the cream of European football and us. This team has really deserved this because of how they have fought on despite all the setbacks.”

Though Dortmund reached the Champions League final last season and once again sit second in the Bundesliga this season, there has been reason for the fans criticism. BVB are a whopping 25 points behind first-place Bayern Munich, who also beat them to win the European title in 2013 and have now lured away one of their top players in the middle of consecutive seasons.

But since Bayern don’t play the Westfalenstadion every week (thankfully), Dortmund players seem to be getting the brunt of their supporters’ discontent.

Still, getting outscored at home by a club that just sacked their manager the week before probably should be a crime punishable by more than just whistles.