Football Season Guide

Borussia Dortmund

In


Matts Hummels (def) Bayern Munchen; Nico Schulz (def) Hoffenheim; Mateu Morey (def) Barcelona; Thorgan Hazard (mid) Borrussia M’gladbach; Julian Brandt (mid) Bayer Leverkusen; Paco Alcacer (att) Barcelona – loan made permanent;

Out


Abdou Diallo (r) (def) PSG; Christian Pulisic (r) (mid) Chelsea – end of loan; Maximilian Philipp (sp) (att) Dinamo Moscow; Alexander Isak (att) Real Sociedad; Sebastian Rode (sp) (mid) Eintracht Frankfurt; Jeremy Toljan (sp) (def) Sassuolo – on loan; Andre Schurrle (att) Spartak Moscow – on loan; Shinji Kagawa (mid) Real Zaragoza;

Dortmund invested heavily in the summer, with coach Favre adding 2 new experienced defenders to try and remedy the issues at the back from last season. The Bumblebees played well for several months in 2018/19, but really past the winter break their form dipped and too many defensive errors were their Achilles’’ heel. The return of Hummels and the signing of left-back Schulz should in theory improve the stability at the back, with the permanent signing of prolific goalscorer Alcacer addressing the other end of the pitch. Added to that 2 new highly rated wingers (Hazard and Brandt) and Dortmund’s squad looks really well built to try and topple Bayern off the top. Once again key role in attack will be played by captain Reus and, based on last season’s evidence, the attacking partnership between him and Alcacer can be lethal. That said Dortmund lack depth and alternatives in the forward positions. With Reus’ injury-record this could be major weakness down the line. Still the team looks impressive and down both flanks Dortmund should carry major threat. On the right, teenagers Hakimi and Sancho are expected to be even better this season, while newcomers Schulz, Brandt and Hazard were bought to make the left flank at least as impressive. Dortmund don’t have height in attack and this will once again see Favre using his favoured one-touch football that includes lots of running off the ball and looking for pockets of space. This promises lots of goals!

Target


To finally beat Bayern for the title, but for this to happen consistency must be found throughout the entire season and several key players must remain fit.