The good feelings lasted about 53 minutes. In that far-too-brief period of time, we got to see a glimpse of what the 2026-27 Borussia Dortmund squad could do, even without Joey Veerman or Nico Schlotterbeck. But with Konstantinos Karetsas and Giannis Konstantelias, the two signings designed more than anything to reinvigorate the club as a whole, out on the pitch showing what they were made of, we were flying.
Hamburg couldn't get out of their own half, much less touch the Dortmund goal. The Greek kids looked every bit the talented studs that were promised. Karetsas played a perfect combo with Guirassy to set up the Dortmund striker for his and the club's first goal of the season. Then, just before the half, Giannis opened his own account when Maxi Beier played him into the box. He dribbled, found a bit of **** e, and took a shot that took a very fortunate deflection off Sebastiaan Bornauw and into the net. The deflection was so lucky I thought it might be ruled an own goal, but the Bundesliga's website still gives it to Giannis as of writing this.
Aaaaaaaaand that was it for the good feelings. BVB came out into the second half and it took eight minutes for the season to end. Giannis challenged for a ball, tweaked his knee without contact, and had to be subbed off. Niko Kovac subbed on Marcel Sabitzer, but Giannis's absence was noticed immediately. Hamburg controlled the play much better in the second half, and to add to the sour mood, Samuele Inacio received a straight red card towards the end of the match with a late slide-tackle that connected with Albert Grønbæk's shin. Inacio walked off in tears.
So Dortmund held out for the 2-0 win and clean-sheet, but the mood was irrevocably destroyed. We can never have nice things, and when we do they only get briefly teased before they get ripped away. The night is dark and full of terrors.
I'll just say it because we're all already thinking it: I'm very nervous that Giannis tore his ACL. Depending on the severity he could potentially miss the entire season, but even a partial tear would put him out of action for multiple (read: at bare minimum three months). Bottom line, unless it's a miracle and it's only a Grade 1 or something less severe like a meniscus tear (which would still require many weeks' recovery), we're not seeing him back on the pitch any time soon. If I'm Ole Book, I'm trying to find a last second cheap winger on the transfer market.
#dortmund #half #season #took
Hamburg couldn't get out of their own half, much less touch the Dortmund goal. The Greek kids looked every bit the talented studs that were promised. Karetsas played a perfect combo with Guirassy to set up the Dortmund striker for his and the club's first goal of the season. Then, just before the half, Giannis opened his own account when Maxi Beier played him into the box. He dribbled, found a bit of **** e, and took a shot that took a very fortunate deflection off Sebastiaan Bornauw and into the net. The deflection was so lucky I thought it might be ruled an own goal, but the Bundesliga's website still gives it to Giannis as of writing this.
Aaaaaaaaand that was it for the good feelings. BVB came out into the second half and it took eight minutes for the season to end. Giannis challenged for a ball, tweaked his knee without contact, and had to be subbed off. Niko Kovac subbed on Marcel Sabitzer, but Giannis's absence was noticed immediately. Hamburg controlled the play much better in the second half, and to add to the sour mood, Samuele Inacio received a straight red card towards the end of the match with a late slide-tackle that connected with Albert Grønbæk's shin. Inacio walked off in tears.
So Dortmund held out for the 2-0 win and clean-sheet, but the mood was irrevocably destroyed. We can never have nice things, and when we do they only get briefly teased before they get ripped away. The night is dark and full of terrors.
I'll just say it because we're all already thinking it: I'm very nervous that Giannis tore his ACL. Depending on the severity he could potentially miss the entire season, but even a partial tear would put him out of action for multiple (read: at bare minimum three months). Bottom line, unless it's a miracle and it's only a Grade 1 or something less severe like a meniscus tear (which would still require many weeks' recovery), we're not seeing him back on the pitch any time soon. If I'm Ole Book, I'm trying to find a last second cheap winger on the transfer market.
#dortmund #half #season #took
8 days ago
