Champions League
Hummel’s difficult path – fears about the home European Championship
Hummels is said to not have been nominated for the upcoming international matches in France and against the Netherlands. photo
© Andreas Gora/dpa
From defense chief to emergency nail: Mats Hummels is no longer in the league. In the Champions League yes – for a special reason. But the few playing times are diminishing his European Championship hopes.
When the Champions League anthem sounds Mats Hummels is back on the pitch. Coach Edin Terzic gives Borussia Dortmund’s central defender a guarantee for today’s round of 16 second leg against PSV Eindhoven (9 p.m./DAZN).
That hasn’t been the case so often lately – on the contrary. “Mats has a very good chance of being in the starting eleven because he is a great player,” said Terzic the day before the premier class duel with the Dutch.
What Terzic didn’t say: Three weeks after the 1-1 draw in the first leg, BVB is missing the suspended Nico Schlotterbeck in central defense. And Schlotterbeck as well as Niklas Süle and captain Emre Can were always preferred over Hummels in the last seven Bundesliga games. That’s astonishing, because the 2014 soccer world champion was the head of defense with the best performances in the first half of the season.
The lack of consideration in the league is doubly bitter for the 35-year-old, whose contract expires in the summer. So he can hardly recommend himself for a new, well-paid working paper. In addition, his chances of taking part in the home European Championship in the summer are decreasing.
According to a report in “Bild”, national coach Julian Nagelsmann is said not to have nominated him for the next two international matches in France (March 23) and against the Netherlands (March 26). Little consolation: Hummels’ internal team competitors Süle, Schlotterbeck and Can are said to have not received an invitation from Nagelsmann for the two international matches.