You won’t convince many BVB fans that Leipzig are good for football but on a tempestuous night at the Westfalenstadion they were good for their team

Die Gelbe Wand, the famous yellow wall, is never less than vocal but on Saturday it spoke loudest without the aid of air or lungs. As their Borussia Dortmund prepared to kick off the Bundesliga’s game of the weekend, against RB Leipzig, the banners came out – some big, some small, maybe 100 of them, maybe more. The strength of feeling that habitually emanates from Europe’s biggest standing terrace is well known, but this was something else.

They all shared similar messages. “Bullen Schweine,” “Red Bull – Feind des Fussballs!” (“football’s enemy”), and even a few in English such as “Beer is a passion, RB is a fashion” were among the politer banners. That there was such animosity was no great surprise. The high-flying newcomers have attracted protests against their unashamedly corporate governance everywhere they’ve been this season, but few have been as emphatic in their condemnation of the Red Bull model than Dortmund.

September’s first encounter between the two in Leipzig was preceded by some prominent Dortmund supporter groups declining their ticket allocation for the match, although the 4,000-plus allowance was snapped up eagerly by local BVB fans. CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke dismissed RB Leipzig as being founded just “to sell cans of soda”.

What was a little more surprising was the sheer extent of some of the hatred displayed in the immediate buildup to the game. Outside Signal Iduna Park, hours before kick-off, ultras had attached their small banner to a fence, advising the visitors “der Fussball gehört uns” – football belongs to us. Some 20 ultras stood by it, hurling insults at any Leipzig fans that went past, including children.

Elsewhere it was worse, with groups of Leipzig fans pelted with cans and stones and, according to eyewitness reports, many had beer thrown at them or were spat on. Pepper spray was used to restore order in some areas, with fans of both sides telling this column that they had been caught in the middle of it. Local police later released a statement detailing how they had charged 28 with offences including assault and damage to property. Four police were among those who sustained (thankfully minor, it seems) injuries.

Borussia Dortmund 'deeply regret' attacks on RB Leipzig fans Read more

RB Leipzig released a statement condemning the attacks on Sunday, quickly followed by an official statement from Dortmund, signed by Watzke and president Dr Reinhard Rauball, which “strongly condemns” the attacks. “To make things crystal clear,” it concluded, “whoever expresses their opinion through means of violence and insults as opposed to arguments, can, and will not be a part of the BVB family.”

The German FA (DFB) have already announced the opening of an investigation into the incidents, though the German Press Agency suggests that it will focus mainly on the raft of banners in the Südtribüne, rather than the unpleasantness outside the stadium, which is broadly considered to be outside the club’s jurisdiction.

All in all, it was hard to believe that this was a meeting between one of the Bundesliga’s leading lights and what remains a newly-promoted club. Away from the idiocy of the minority, the intensity created a formidable atmosphere in an 81,000 sell-out, with some locals even suggesting that the ambience was the most intense here this season, which is saying something when one considers Bayern Munich and local rivals Schalke have already visited.

It was something, perhaps, that Dortmund needed to shake themselves out of a slumber that the winter break doesn’t seem to have fully woken them from, despite taking four points in the two games of 2017 leading into this. “It was very loud from the crowd today, the goalkeeper Roman Bürki told The Guardian after the game, “and it was good for us. It pushed us.”

A depleted Leipzig began the game with a greater level of control but BVB, for all their possession, gradually figured out that the ball over the top was the best – and simplest – way to beat the visitors’ high press. They had already taken a grip of the game when the excellent Ousmane Dembélé latched on to one such delivery forward to steam down the right and offer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a simple opportunity to head the winner. Thomas Tuchel, under scrutiny in recent days, even allowed himself a brief jig on the pitch when the ball hit the net.

Despite Tuchel’s summing-up of the game as “a 4-0 disguised as a 1-0,” justifiable after his side (and Marco Reus in particular) spurned of chances to finish it off, Leipzig were defiant, in the image of their 8,000 travelling supporters, who chanted loudly throughout. They took the field minus the influential Emil Forsberg, still serving a ban, while Timo Werner and Diego Demme were among the victims after a wave of flu swept through the squad during the week, even briefly keeping the coach Ralph Hasenhüttl away from training. The substitute Federico Palacios-Martínez thought he had scored a last-gasp equaliser but was ruled (correctly, if only just) offside.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Dortmund celebrate his goal. Photograph: Sascha Schuermann/AFP/Getty Images

“Our fans want to see us fight, and that’s what we did. I’m very proud of this team.” Likewise, this was a Dortmund performance as gritty in its own way as the one which had beaten Bayern here earlier in the season which is, of course, a huge compliment to Hasenhüttl and everybody involved with Leipzig. Aubameyang, meanwhile had his making up to do after a midweek radio interview with RMC Sport widely reported in the international media as a notice of his intention to quit the club in the summer. It wasn’t quite that – “I just don’t know,” he mused – but such disarming frankness wasn’t especially smart, especially in the context of his struggle for form in 2017, for club and country, thus far. “No more interviews,” he said in English with a sheepish grin on his face as he walked through the mixed zone after the match.

There are still plenty of questions remaining, not least the continuing sitting of Mario Götze on the bench, but at least some of that familiar Dortmund sizzle returned ahead of the forthcoming challenges in the DfB Pokal – against Hertha Berlin this week – and the Champions League. You won’t convince many BVB fans that Leipzig are good for football but here, they were good for their team.

Talking points

• No let-up for Leverkusen this week as they fell to defeat at Hamburg with, as luck would have it, the injury-prone Kyriakos Papadopoulos – a player they loaned to the northerners and still own – scoring the winner. It’s been that kind of week for them, after Hakan Calhanoglu was banned for four months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for breaking a contract he signed with Trabzonspor back in 2011. “I was surprised that it came now, said the managing director Michael Schade, “after the transfer window shut. This denied us the chance to possibly get a replacement.” What certain is that Calhanoglu’s absence is a huge blow, with league form being what it is and a Champions League tie with Atlético Madrid on the horizon.

• Things are looking up just down the road, however, for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Having got that sensational comeback win at Leverkusen last week, Dieter Hecking’s side won a second straight game, beating Freiburg 3-0 with all of the goals coming in the last 17 minutes. The icing on the cake was the third by substitute Patrick Herrmann just a minute after coming on, and he was overwhelmed by emotion after his goal following a season of injury struggles.

• Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top despite the surprise of being held at home, 1-1, by the rampantly inconsistent Schalke. The headline, though, was about another loanee, with Holger Badstuber making a very solid debut against his parent club. Far from getting glassy-eyed, he viewed it all with what might be described as typically Bayern-esque ruthlessness. “I’m not happy with the draw,” he said, “because we really could have won it.”

Results: Hamburg 1-0 Leverkusen, Dortmund 1-0 RB Leipzig, Bayern 1-1 Schalke, Cologne 1-0 Wolfsburg, Hertha Berlin 1-0 FC Ingolstadt, Mönchengladbach 3-0 SC Freiburg, Hoffenheim 4-0 Mainz, Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Darmstadt, Augsburg 3-2 Werder Bremen.