Maxi Beier motoring as BVB gather steam | OneFootball

Maximilian Beier shining brightly at the business end for Borussia Dortmund

Already a scorer of a spectacular winner in Dortmund's UEFA Champions League run to a quarter-final tie against Barcelona, Maxi Beier was at it again at the weekend with a brace against Mainz that helped BVB momentarily forget an important absentee.

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It was a case of no Serhou Guirassy, no problem for Dortmund in last Sunday's possibly crucial victory for Die Schwarzgelben against top-four hopefuls Mainz.

Not for the first time this term, Beier took responsibility for striking duties with the Guinea international absent with an adductor strain. A goal in each half from BVB's No.14 against the 05ers - one an opportunistic, close-range strike and the other a powerful header from Nico Schlotterbeck's corner - brought the young forward to seven Bundesliga goals and 10 goal involvements for the campaign.

Watch: Beier and Dortmund down Mainz

Beier (l.) cam in for praise from teammate Pascal Groß. (Lukas Schulze/Bundesliga)

BVB's victory on Sunday helped halt the team's run of successive top-flight losses and brought back memories of Matchday 11, when Beier also scored in Guirassy's absence (through illness) in a thumping triumph against Freiburg. Despite sitting in 10th spot in the standings, Dortmund's Mainz achievement offers BVB hope of a run to finish among the European spots with seven games still to go.

"We trained hard all week and gave it our all on the pitch today," Beier said after his side's 11th victory of this Bundesliga campaign to date. "Two goals is a great feeling; we won and felt very good," the 22-year-old added.

Already a senior Germany international four times, Beier's first season at the Signal Iduna Park following a summer move from Hoffenheim has produced plenty of highs, despite a slow start personally and an often stuttering campaign for his club in 2024/24. The Brandenburg native - part of Germany's squad at UEFA Euro 2024 - finally got off the mark for Die Schwarzgelben with a goal and an assist in BVB's 2-1 win against RB Leipzig last November.

He has popped up with important goals since then, yet, arguably, few have been as dramatic as his spectacular finish into the top corner in Dortmund's 3-2 aggregate victory against French side Lille in the UEFA Champions League that propelled the Bundesliga outfit to a quarter-final tie against Barcelona, the first leg of which takes place in Spain on 9 April.

Watch: Beier (r.) got off the mark for BVB against Leipzig

His memorable strike in France was Beier's very first in European club football's elite competition and gave the one-time Hannover loanee further determination to one day be Dortmund's main man in front of goal.

"(It was) my first Champions League goal and such an important one at that moment; it was really nice," the BVB No.14 said in an interview with Dortmund's official channel. Of his subsequent celebration at a rainy Stade Pierre-Mauroy in early March, Beier continued, "Normally I don't slide on my knees because I'd probably break every bone. But at that moment I was just so relieved".

Relieved, too, were Kovač's team, who had trailed in the tie early on in France and were taking time to adapt to their new coach's style following the ex-Croatia international's takeover from Nuri Şahin. Some weeks later, Beier's first-ever brace for Dortmund in the Mainz win has once again lifted some pressure from the side, who may finally be about to find some form at a crucial point in the season.

Hoffenheim's top scorer with 16 goals in 2023/24, Beier is looking ever more at home at the five-time Bundesliga champions, with his energy, goals and willingness to help out in defence drawing praise from fans and teammates alike. "Maxi is a great lad; he works really hard every day," fellow summer arrival Pascal Groß said. "He has incredible qualities: he is a striker who is in part measured by his goals but what he (also) does defensively is extraordinary," the former Brighton midfielder continued.

On his willingness to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in all over the pitch, Beier explained, "When a striker dribbles past me, I can't just say, 'off you go, then'. I have to keep at it and try everything to win the ball back. I've actually always done that; it's kind of in me."

What is clearly also 'in' Beier are the goals and assists that could eventually prove vital to a Borussia push for European qualification and further glory in continental competition. With crucial games against Freiburg and Barcelona just around the corner, Beier is determined to extend this, his time to shine, until the last kick of Dortmund's campaign.

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