Haller: Title miss hurt more than cancer diagnosis

Sebastien Haller says missing out on last season’s Bundesliga title hurt him more than when he was diagnosed with cancer.

After fighting his way back from testicular cancer, Sebastien Haller played a key role for Borussia Dortmund in the second half of the season, almost helping the club to their first Bundesliga title since the 2011/12 season.

All Dortmund had to do was win at home against Mainz on the final day of the season, but Haller and the Black and Yellows had to settle for a 2-2 draw and let the title slip through their fingers to Bayern Munich.

Looking back on that day in May, Haller says that slipping up in the title race caused him more pain than the cancer diagnosis he received in the summer of 2022.

“It really is like this: missing the title hurts me more than the cancer diagnosis,” Haller told Sport Bild.

“When you’re sick, there’s nothing you can do about it. You have to accept it and get through it. But the title was in our hands, we could influence everything.

“But in this case you have to painfully accept that you may have made mistakes or wrong decisions.”

The fact that Haller missed a penalty in the first half against Mainz didn’t make the draw any easier to swallow.

“Unsuccessful situations or missed chances eat away at you. You think about what you could have done better,” Haller said.

“But I also learned, especially during my illness, not to let the negative things get to me too much,” he emphasized.

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