Augsburg skipper Keven Schlotterbeck (28) comments on ‘captain’s duel’ with little brother Nico (26) of Borussia Dortmund | OneFootball

Augsburg’s Keven Schlotterbeck has crossed paths with his little brother Nico plenty of times in the Bundesliga before. A scene just prior to kickoff during Saturday afternoon’s Bundesliga showdown against Borussia Dortmund still had a unique feel. Keven – now working as Augsburg captain in Jeffrey Gouweleeuw’s absence – had to square off against Nico during the pre-match coin toss. 

While Keven has emerged as Augsburg’s new leader, Nico has also been donning the captain’s armband for Dortmund with Emré Can out. The two siblings have obviously had radically different career trajectories since their days at the SC Freiburg academy. Nico matured into a blockbuster Borussia Dortmund transfer, a €55m-valued player, and a 23-times-capped German international. 

Keven – despite remaining a German fan favorite who has even managed to out-score his younger brother in two of the last three Bundesliga seasons – remains a €6m-valued centre-back who has only represented Germany at Olympic Level thus far. Keven has always focused on delivering gritty play during his Bundesliga stints with relegation fighting teams like Union Berlin, Bochum, and Augsburg.

As usual, Keven showed no inkling of jealousy when speaking of Nico.

Keven Schlotterbeck on facing Nico at center circle

“It was defensively something special,” Keven said when asked about the feeling of meeting Nico in front of a packed house of 81,365 fans at Signal Iduna Park in the mixed zone “Of course, these are the sorts of things that one dreams about as a kid.

“During the 90 minutes, you don’t really think about it, even though you naturally catch glimpses of your brother out of the corner of your eye,” Keven continued.  I’m still so proud of him for what he has achieved in recent years and is currently achieving.

“You can see he’s a top centre back,” Keven concluded. “One of the best in Germany. One of the best in the world, in my opinion.“

GGFN | Peter Weis