Mats Hummels was fed up again after the final whistle. “It has to get out of some people’s minds that successful football is always sexy and heel-toe, one, two, three over five metres,” grumbled the Dortmund team captain in front of the television cameras. According to his own assessment, it was already clear to him that he would cause a sensation in the media. But the 90 minutes in the Champions League against FC Sevilla, compared to the 100,000 volt game on Saturday in the Bundesliga against Bayern Munich (2: 2), could only be attested to a rapid drop in tension.
With the tired 1-1 draw against Sevilla, Dortmund gave away the great chance of a breather, because even the narrowest of wins would have secured the Champions League round of 16 after this fourth matchday. BVB could have saved energy and rotated the remaining two dates of the group games, at FC Copenhagen and against Manchester City, because the qualification would have been fixed. It remains a comfortable five-point lead over Sevilla – but Dortmund are not uncatchable.
Hummels therefore rumbled through the end of the game interview and wanted to get rid of a few things in the direction of his teammates: “Someone once said that a good player always does the right thing and not just sometimes the special. That he always finds the right solutions and the overview retains.” The 33-year-old, who shouldn’t have too many attempts at new titles left at BVB, had often called for “adult football” from his colleagues in the past.
After the lax, often unfocused performance against the team from Seville, which Borussia had beaten 4-1 in the first leg six days earlier, it was time again. And despite his hoarse voice, having just got over a cold, Hummels gave free rein to his indignation.
Hummels only wanted to exclude one person from his criticism: Jude Bellingham
When asked why similar mistakes were repeated so constantly at Dortmund, he snapped: “Game intelligence. We kept losing the ball because we kept playing the ball into narrow spaces. Instead of letting them run. Football is actually a simple game, but we always make it complicated.”
In front of the eyes of the national coach Hansi Flick watching in the stadium, World Cup candidate Hummels would have been only too happy to show a better performance, just like his colleagues did in the second half against Bayern when Hummels had to be substituted at the break due to circulatory problems. This time Hummels feared that his colleagues’ weaknesses would reflect on him. “We didn’t play well. We must have lost twenty balls after half-time alone and left the game completely open,” said Hummels: “And that against such an insecure opponent. All because we lost so many balls, to put it mildly.”
Hummels only wanted to exclude one person from his criticism: Jude Bellingham. The 19-year-old had already shown several gestures of displeasure during the game after carelessly missed opportunities. This is usually seen as a violation of etiquette in professional teams, but Hummels could understand Bellingham’s mood: “Jude always wants to win, in every training session, in every game. He invests a lot, we all love this boy.” After all, Bellingham had scored the equalizer for Dortmund – and prepared it himself beforehand.
In his torrent of professional criticism, Hummels conspicuously praised his young colleague: “It’s completely normal that at the age of 19 he has certain energies that he sometimes still has to channel a bit. I would also like to have these energies again. But seriously, If someone – who has played every minute of the game this season – tries to win every minute, to invest for the team, then he can complain about it. Then he can sometimes make wrong decisions.” He’d rather have someone like Bellingham who “bitches five times” than someone who never says anything.
The next endurance test follows on Sunday at leaders Union Berlin
In fact, one could hardly exclude a Borussia from Hummels’ wild criticism that evening. In the cabin, it was heard that the thunderstorm should have continued. Dortmund’s coach Edin Terzic will have to continue working on the underlying mentality debate about BVB. The meanwhile long history of wasted opportunities through personal negligence or, as Hummels put it, a lack of game intelligence continued against Sevilla. Terzic himself tried a gentle rotation to give his exhausted players Youssoufa Moukoko and Raphael Guerreiro a break.
That didn’t work out either. Above all, Anthony Modeste, who was still the hero of the day on Saturday with his late goal against Bayern, again missed the game completely. The teammates didn’t even try to underpin his strengths in the penalty area with crosses. The conclusion from Dortmund’s point of view: A Bellingham alone is not enough. And the next game intelligence test comes on Sunday, at leaders Union Berlin, who are particularly known for clever tactics.
