BVB and the Konstantinos Karetsas problem | OneFootball

Between sporting ambition and workload management: Borussia Dortmund are reportedly seeking talks with the Greek federation to protect one of their breakout stars.

BVB are said to have contacted the Greek Football Federation to ask them to use Konstantinos Karetsas sparingly in the match against Germany. That is according to “Sky”. In all three matches so far in the current Nations League phase, the attacking player has started for Greece, and in the historic win over the German national team he even played the full 90 minutes. Borussia Dortmund have now apparently made contact with the Greek federation and asked them to handle the youngster a little more carefully in the upcoming return fixture.

The reason for this request lies in Dortmund’s packed schedule. As early as next Friday, Borussia face their next Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen. After that, things will become especially intense for BVB for several weeks: the Champions League is on the agenda three times in quick succession, followed by the DFB-Pokal clash against that same Bremen side and then Der Klassiker away to Bayern Munich. Dortmund need their young attacking player fit and in the best possible condition for this demanding run.

For Greece themselves, however, there is a lot at stake in this Nations League campaign. After three of six matches, the Greek team top their group, which also includes Germany, the Netherlands and Serbia. Greece currently sit two points ahead of the Dutch, who are level on points with Serbia. Even with a defeat against Germany, the worst Greece could do is remain in second place — and that would still be enough to reach the Nations League quarter-finals. With a win over the DFB team, the Greeks would even open up a six-point gap to third place, and with only two matches remaining, qualification for the next round would be all but secured.

BVB star Konstantinos Karetsas is a man in demand

Against this backdrop, the Greek federation is likely to have little interest in doing without one of its most important players in such a crucial match or substituting him early. Especially since Greece will already be without another key player, Giorgos Tzolis, against Germany. Completely or largely leaving out Konstantinos Karetsas would further weaken an already depleted Greek attack — in what is probably the most important match of the entire group stage.

Photo: IMAGO

That leaves BVB in a real dilemma: on the one hand, the club want to rest their youngster ahead of the upcoming marathon run of fixtures, but on the other hand, the Greek federation is unlikely to be willing to do without its key player in such an important game. So two understandable but opposing interests are colliding here, both sporting and scheduling-wise. How national team coach Ivan Jovanović will ultimately decide in this situation remains to be seen. One thing is certain, though: if Konstantinos Karetsas once again goes the full distance, it is likely to cause extra concern at BVB given the packed schedule in the coming weeks.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.