Schlotterbeck returns for BVB: "It was really moving" | OneFootball

He wears the number four, but he's number one. At least that's what Kicker says. The specialist magazine placed Nico Schlotterbeck at the top of its summer ranking of central defenders. Despite this, the 25-year-old BVB professional was absent for months due to a meniscus tear. Now the Dortmund defense chief is back on the pitch.

"For the first time in a very, very long time," he was "nervous before a game again," Schlotterbeck admits in a club interview. In the 1:0 victory against VfL Wolfsburg last Sunday, he was part of the matchday squad for the first time since the end of March 2025. "It was very emotional," reveals the native of Waiblingen.

Even before warming up, he entered the pitch at Signal Iduna Park. "Which I don't usually do," explains Schlotterbeck, "but I wanted to see what the grass was like and get used to the surroundings." Even an experienced professional with now 150 appearances in the Bundesliga needs time to readjust. His teammates therefore thought of something special for his return. "The guys let me go ahead, I was the first one to run in."

"It's extremely hard"

The long break was not easy, says the Dortmund defense strategist. "It's extremely hard when you see the guys working every day and you're on crutches all the time," Schlotterbeck candidly reports. He didn't go to the stadium during his injury break. "You're on crutches, you see the guys, you actually want to get involved and be on the pitch," he wouldn't have been able to "feel happy."

Only for the season opener, the 1:2 against Juventus Turin, did he return to the Westfalenstadion. "Now it's not long, now you're also pulling through the last five, six weeks," he thought at the time. "That was the moment when I felt that it was about to start again," he recalls.

Against the Lower Saxons, he played a full 90 minutes. "Physically and in terms of running, I'm really at my maximum," Schlotterbeck is convinced. "In terms of football," however, he's only "at about 70 percent." He's not quite ready yet "to get all the processes going with the guys again." Already on Saturday (27th September, 3.30 pm) against Mainz 05, the central defender should be a step further.

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