Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Brandt and Niklas Süle fight back in Barcelona match | OneFootball

A 3-1 home victory over Barcelona wasn’t enough for Borussia Dortmund to stave off Champions League elimination last night. At the very least, however, two of the Bundesliga club’s “problem children” were able to take something from the victory. Julian Brandt and Niklas Süle – both of whom have had their form issues this season – made a positive mark.

Brandt found himself benched after a woeful performance against Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday. BVB head coach Niko Kovac still turned to the 48-times-capped international off the bench in the 77th minute. Two minutes after his introduction, Brandt found the back-of-the-net. Unfortunately an offside position meant the goal didn’t count.

Brandt nevertheless found himself actively involved in goal-scoring opportunities and nearly set up teammate Pascal Groß in injury time. The 28-year-old received support from Kovac at the post match press conference. As on previous occasions, Kovac remained quick to back Brandt.

“Julian just needed a break after playing through everything for the past few weeks,” Kovac said. “Julian continues to have the same value as before.”

Another player Kovac recently backed despite a suspect performance against Bayern, Niklas Süle, spoke directly to Prime Video in a post match interview. The 49-times-capped German international turned in a very strong performance, keeping Barça attackers Robert Lewandowski and Raphina at bay.

In general, Süle reminded German football observers of his glory days before the 2020 injury that derailed his career. Süle looked especially strong orchestrating counters. Like his BVB teammates in recent interviews last week, Süle wondered aloud why Dortmund can’t execute in the league.

“I have to say, I haven’t played that many games for Borussia Dortmund where we stood up for each other and fought like that,” Süle told Amazon. “I’m extremely proud of the team. The question of why we can’t do that in the Bundesliga always arises. We have to focus on Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

“I believe we have an incredible amount of quality and are one of the best teams in the world,” Süle continued. “We have five difficult games. But if we win them all, there is a good chance that we will still be playing in the Champions League next year. That has to be the goal for our team.

“I’ve had one or two phases in my career where you have to fight your way through,” Süle concluded, “But I’m the kind of guy who still knows what he can do and what quality he has. I can definitely still play for Borussia.“

GGFN | Peter Weis