200 matches for BVB: Kobel “mega happy” after milestone victory | OneFootball

The goalkeeper proudly pointed to his team’s strong Bundesliga performance since the end of the winter break. “We’ve won four out of five games and drawn one. That’s a great statistic.” With 45 points after 20 games, BVB now have their best record at this point in a season since Kobel’s move from VfB Stuttgart to Dortmund in 2021.

The fact that Borussia have conceded only 19 goals so far, making them the second-best defence in the league and just behind league leaders Bayern (18) in this category, is also thanks to the 28-year-old. This is a significant reduction in goals conceded compared to last season (34). BVB also let in more goals in the comparable periods of his first three seasons in 2021/2022 (31), 2022/23 (26) and 2023/24 (26).

Kobel’s performances are highly regarded not only in Dortmund, but also among experts. The magazine kicker attested to his “spotless” performance in the first half of the season and named him the best goalkeeper of the first half of the season – ahead of Peter Gulácsi (RB Leipzig) and German national goalkeeper Oliver Baumann (TSG Hoffenheim). “This is confirmation of his performance. Greg has been very consistent over the last six months. He works incredibly meticulously, constantly thinks about his goalkeeping and always wants to improve,” commented BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl. The award was nothing new for Kobel: he had already topped the kicker rankings in the winter of 2022/23.

The list of his strong performances in goal for BVB is long. This season, Kobel shone in Borussia’s cup victory in Frankfurt, keeping BVB in the game with brilliant saves and parrying the final spotkick from Eintracht's Farès Chaibi in the penalty shoot-out. The Zurich-born player also made headlines internationally. In the Swiss national team, he equalled Yann Sommer’s record of five consecutive international matches without conceding a goal and played a key role in the team’s successful qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

In the Bundesliga, the number of clean sheets in particular underlines his quality. Kobel has not conceded a goal in ten matches – half of his league appearances so far this season. This brings him closer to his personal best from the 2022/23 season (11) and even Roman Weidenfeller’s club record (15) from the 2011/12 championship season. However, Manuel Neuer’s Bundesliga record of 20 clean sheets (2014/15) is probably out of reach.

Even though Dortmund’s defence was not as solid against Heidenheim as it had been a week earlier in the 3-0 win in Berlin, there have been huge strides made this season. “There were certainly things we could have done better today. But we’ve had some very good defensive performances,” he said of the match against the bottom club. But despite all the joy of the 3-2 win, he prefers victories where he doesn’t have to pick the ball out of his net at all. “That’s when it feels best,” admitted the keeper.