Champions League
On the trail of Zorc: Hummels before his 500th BVB game
Hummels’ current contract with BVB ends at the end of the season. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
He made his first appearance in black and yellow in January 2008. More than 16 years later, Mats Hummels is about to play his 500th game for Borussia Dortmund. But how many more games are there?
He has already achieved legendary status at Borussia Dortmund – even before the end of his professional career. Enjoyed by both the fans and the club management Mats Hummel’s high regard.
In today’s quarter-final first leg of the Champions League at Atlético Madrid (9 p.m./DAZN) he will play his 500th competitive game in the black and yellow jersey. The BVB supporters have long since forgiven him for briefly returning to FC Bayern between 2016 and 2019.
He is unlikely to surpass Michael Zorc’s internal club record (572). The current contract of the central defender, who turns 36 in December, ends at the end of the season. It remains to be seen whether he will allow himself to be persuaded again, as he did last summer, and continue his eventful professional career for another year. “Nothing has been decided in any direction. I think that will actually only be decided for me after the end of the season,” commented Hummels.
Hummels decides himself whether to end his career
As things stand today, the 2014 world champion will decide for himself when to end his career. According to reports, the club management would like to extend the contract. After all, Hummels has proven in recent months, particularly with gala performances in Milan and Munich, that he can still make an impact at the highest level.
Hummels may make his decision dependent on how the season ends for BVB. If the current fifth-place team misses qualification for the Champions League, their willingness to continue is likely to decrease. The ambition is still too great for that.
Top games like the one in Munich, when Hummels prevented his former team from equalizing in Borussia’s 2-0 win with an astonished kung fu jump, make you hungry for more. But the body’s signals give us food for thought – more and more often. “I feel like it anyway, it just hurts a lot,” he confessed.