In the shadow of Marco Reus’s gala performance in Dortmund’s 5-1 win against Augsburg, 18-year-old Kjell Wätjen made his professional debut. There was then praise from all sides – including from the outgoing BVB icon.
He also gave direct instructions: Kjell Wätjen on his professional debut. imago images
The Westphalians had already made it publicly clear at the end of March that Borussia Dortmund thought highly of Kjell Wätjen. The junior national player was given a professional contract until June 30, 2028. Sports director Sebastian Kehl said at the time that he saw the development of the midfield driver as “far from over”.
On this Saturday afternoon, Wätjen took the next step on the career ladder. He made his professional and Bundesliga debut in the home game against Augsburg. The 5-1 home win against Augsburg, Dortmund’s biggest win of the season, was a grateful start. BVB won all of their last six home games against the Fuggerstadt team.
Despite the newly assembled team – Edin Terzic had changed ten times compared to the PSG game (only goalkeeper Gregor Kobel remained) – Dortmund combined fluently and gave their opponents no chance at all.
Wätjen, positioned in defensive midfield next to Felix Nmecha, immediately left his mark: with a wonderful through ball from his own half, he sent the outgoing BVB icon Marco Reus on his way, who made it 4-1 before the break.
You can’t have a better debut.
Sebastian Kehl about Kjell Wätjen
“We’ve thrown him in now,” Kehl said afterwards about Wätjen. “He was a little nervous. But the way the team helped him and the scenes he quickly brought into the game gave him security. He was involved in many transitions and repeatedly called for balls and provided an assist. He did “I’m very confident.”
The interaction with Nmecha “worked very well”. Kehl’s conclusion: “You can’t have a better debut.”
Only one BVB trio sprints even faster
Wätjen, who played through, was the longest-running Borussia player in the end with 11.45 kilometers, won 57 percent of his duels and completed 89 percent of his passes. His remarkable speed was also noticeable: only Niklas Süle (33.0 km/h), Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (34.4 km/h) and Karim Adeyemi (35.4 km/h) sprinted faster than Wätjen (32nd) on Saturday .5 km/h).
“He had a lot of really good moments,” coach Terzic also praised the top talent, who has been playing for BVB since the U10. With a smile, Terzic added: “Unfortunately he won’t be available to us on Tuesday. There’s a simple reason for that: that’s when he has his Abitur exam.”
Wätjen had already been in Dortmund’s Champions League squad four times – twice against Eindhoven (1:1, 2:0), in the second leg against Atletico (4:2) and in the first leg against PSG (1:0). Wätjen will be missing on Tuesday (9 p.m., LIVE! on kicker) in Paris. But the likelihood that he might experience the Champions League on the pitch next season has increased since Saturday. In the end, there was even an accolade from Reus, who raved about Wätjen’s performance: “Simply a great kicker.”
2024-05-04 21:47:49
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