Alphabet Challenge | Part 56, Club 26 | Two Cup Finals Go All The Way To Extra Time

Dynamo Dresden defied all expectations to finish 6th in Bundesliga and qualify for European football in 2074/75. Manager Trebor Mahtal now had to strengthen key areas of the squad to compete on all fronts, try and close the gap to Germany’s big boys and, ideally, give them a more offensive threat.

Their overperformance saw them begin the summer with £70m in the bank, which was boosted by selling backups like Suradej Inpinit and Julian Hartwig for an £8m profit before Barcelona triggered midfielder Lucas Ríos’ £13.5m minimum fee release. Mahtal put that to use by splashing a new club record transfer of £14.5m on Nurnberg’s Dawid Stasiak. He was joined by centre back Mauricio Lai for £4m from Rosario Central, young midfielder Paolo Chacón for £650k from Melgar and holding midfielder Facundo Silveira for £6m before going on loan to Hamburg. On deadline day, they snapped up 6ft 4in Marcel Eberhardt for £7.5m from Leipzig to provide cover at left wingback. Then in January, Mahtal added wingback Marcelo Centurión for up to £13.5m from Vélez and striker Luigi Tavani for £7.5m from Penarol.

Strong Start Fades Away

The bookies boosted Dresden’s chances from relegation fodder to a 13th-place finish with 400/1 title odds. Holders Dortmund are 6/4 favourites followed by Gladbach (11/4), Hertha (15/2), Hannover (11/1) and Bayern (15/1). However, Dresden still have the joint-lowest wage spend in the league of just £525k per week compared to Dortmund’s £4.5m.

Dresden’s second Bundesliga campaign began with a tough task away to Mahtal’s former side Dortmund and were lucky to lose 3-2 with Miranda and Koné goals completely against the run of play. A week later, Miranda scored again before Cristian Zaracho ended his 11-hour goal drought to seal a 2-0 win over Freiburg. That was backed up by Miranda scoring both goals to down Koln 2-0 away and equal his league tally of last season after three games – which prompted him to get ideas above his station and demand a transfer to a bigger club, despite zero interest.

He put in a more typical performance next time as Koné and Stasiak’s first goal nicked a 2-1 win at home to Magdeburg. The clear outlier here was a lack of goals for Ronning, who then got injured, but Jiri Tafat got his first of the season in a 2-1 win at Rostock and Miranda scored the only goal at home to Stuttgart. They lost narrowly again at Mahtal’s former club Hannover, who have a ludicrous team now, but got on track with centre back Juan Navarro scored the only goal at home to Bremen to take Dresden 2nd behind Hannover.

Dresden continued to perform well despite Ronning remaining goalless, taking him 8 months and 16 games without a league goal since a 4-2 win at Koln on 2 March. But he snapped that drought with the only goal at Bayern, who found themselves winless and 16th in the table after 11 games! However, they struggled a little through a tricky December, including getting thumped 5-2 at home to runaway leaders Dortmund. That dropped them down the table to 7th heading into a winter break, but still involved in a potentially close battle for the European places.

Meeting A Former Flame In Europe

Dresden’s first taste of European football took them into the Europa League. And, predictably, they drew one of Mahtal’s former clubs as they would entertain Scottish side Queen’s Park in game six of a fairly challenging fixture list.

The group kicked off with a trip to Romania, where Tafat and Lai’s first goal edged a 2-1 win at Steaua Bucuresti, before Zaracho’s late equaliser secured a point at Motherwell. Miranda’s goal gave them hope in a tight 2-1 defeat at home to Napoli before Eberhardt’s first goal nicked a 1-0 at PSV. They dominated Rayo 3-1 before welcoming Queen’s Park to DDV-Stadion and Miranda’s brace earned a 2-2. Midfielder Valentín Rojas scored the only goal to secure an impressive win at Galatasaray and they wrapped up qualification with Tavani’s debut goal earning a 1-1 at home to Anderlecht to finish 8th.

Dresden took on Shakhtar in the last 16, cruised to a 3-0 win in Ukraine and a rotated side won 3-1 at home. Next up was Torino and an impressive performance in Italy, which they dominated by 15 shots to 8, led to Tafat and Ronning earning a 2-1 victory before a 1-1 at home took them into the semis. That teed up a clash with Aberdeen while Rennes faced Atalanta in the other semi. Koné’s penalty was enough for a 1-1 in Scotland, in a game Dresden bossed by 10 shots to 7. Mahtal rested the first 11 for the league game between the two legs, and the second began with Koné missing a penalty and Tafat getting injured. A dreadful game ensued and it got the penalty shootout it deserved, and Machacek saved Aberdeen’s first to send his side into their first-ever major cup final!

DFB-Pokal Progression

Just like Mahtal’s famed season at Hannover, Dresden got a decent DFB-Pokal draw to defeat Waldhof Mannheim and Paderborn with Ronning hat tricks defying his league form. They snuck past Werder and Gladbach on penalties to reach the semis, then a 0-0 draw with Schalke set up another penalty shootout in which Jiri Machacek saved three spot kicks to send Dresden into their second Final!

Perennial Winners Face Bundesliga Relegation

2026 began with seven players away on international duty and three potentially tough away days. They lost 2-1 at Leipzig before Miranda inspired a 2-1 win at Gladbach and then scored two penalties in a 4-0 victory at Freiburg. Entertainment was at an absolute premium in the next two months, with Dresden’s next nine games seeing neither side score more than once, including Koné scoring the only goal at home to Hannover.

More worryingly, Dresden didn’t score more than one goal in a league game from mid-January through to a 3-2 final day defeat at home to Leipzig. Their end-of-season form was appalling as the cup focus saw them end the campaign without a win in six and just one win in the last 10 games. That saw them drop to a fully respectable 9th-place finish on 50 points. However, the big talking point in Germany was 56-time Bundesliga champions FC Bayern being relegated for the first time in modern history and ending the season £200m in debt.

Ending The Season With Two Cup Finals

Dresden ended the 2075/76 campaign with two shots at cup glory, for which they had Tafat and Lai missing with injuries. First up, fans from Germany and Italy descended on Poland’s Legia Stadium as Dresden faced off against Mahtal’s former side Atalanta in the Europa League Final. Mahtal slightly tweaked his approach, bringing in a second striker and lined up:

Machacek; Rojas, Stasiak, Romário; Ibishi, Koné, Navarro, Centurión; Miranda; Zaracho, Ronning
Subs: Tavani, Montano, Grankvist, Boril, Eberhardt, Manukyan, Felbinger, Bedeschi, Chacón

Atalanta obviously scored from their first attack while Dresden’s dreadful finishing continued. Mahtal switched to a 4-3-3, which yielded an immediate goal… only for the useless Ronning to be offside. But it eventually paid off as a clever short corner ended up with Miranda’s low cross being tapped home by Tavani with 7 minutes remaining. However, Miranda then tore his calf to reduce them for 10 men through the ensuing extra time, and Atalanta eventually took advantage five minutes from time.

Four days later, they took on another of Mahtal’s former clubs, German champions Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal Final. Mahtal decided to make a drastic tactical switch, moving to a 4-3-3 to try and force a change. Of course, they were now without star man Miranda, so he lined up:

Machacek; Ibishi, Stasiak, Romário, Felbinger; Koné, Navarro, Boril; Centurión, Eberhardt; Ronning
Subs: Tavani, Montano, Rojas, Manukyan, Zaracho, Chacón, Bedeschi, Grankvist, Tafat

Eberhardt had a long shot 40 seconds in, which proved to be Dresden’s only of a first half that Dortmund bossed but only got one shot on target. Ronning had a huge chance 10 minutes after the break but, unsurprisingly, sent his shot well wide of the target. He then somehow missed an open goal as a cross bobbled to him six yards out. Dresden continued to frustrate Dortmund, who had 17 shots, and, for the second time in four days, they went to extra time. This time, Dresden landed the first blow as Zaracho got in down the right and his cross rebounded to Boril 20 yards out, and his shot was fumbled into the net by the keeper. Dortmund continued to punish and were hit on the counter as Tavani latched onto a clearance and crossed for the half-injured Tafat to slam home on the volley. Dortmund got one back but Dresden held on for a pretty undeserved but very special victory.

Dynamo Dresden won DFB-Pokal!

Dresden Somehow Claim Cup Success

This had undoubtedly been a very weird season for Mahtal in Dresden. Their league form had been average at best, yet they’d snuck into two finals and just about won one very undeservedly. And the lack of goals in this Dresden side was frankly laughable. Miranda was clearly the star man with 18 goals and 12 assists in 49 games. But behind him, Ronning managed just 12 goals and 0 assists in 43, 6 of which were in two early Pokal games, just 3 in 28 in the league and only scored once in the new year. Tafat only managed 9 goals and 3 assists, Koné just 6 goals and 5 assists and no-one else scored more than 3!

Despite that, they had managed to win a trophy and that meant Mahtal’s time in Dresden was done and dusted. The now 92-year-old departs East Germany after 1,415 days and 164 games, of which he won 81, drew 43 and lost 40, scoring 233 and conceding 167, with a 49% win ratio the third-lowest of his career behind his spells at Longford and Racing Club (41% and 39%).

That success meant Mahtal now only had two letters to tick off his Alphabet Challenge. Where would he end up on the next leg? Join us on Monday to find out!