Mats Hummels further underlined his ambitions in the national team with an outstanding performance against Manchester City on Tuesday night. The Borussia Dortmund star was the guy of the match when his side drew 0-0 to qualify for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.
“Thank you, that’s a smart thing,” Hummels said when asked via Amazon Prime about his man of the match award. It’s Jude,” Hummels added with a big smile, referring to Dortmund star Jude Bellingham, who has gained all the attention in recent weeks.
“Defensively we were fine,” Bellingham told BT Sports. I don’t think many groups will keep blank sheets against Manchester City this season, so it’s promising from that point of view. There are other things to take out of the game, but overall we are satisfied. “
Without a doubt, Dortmund were smart in defence, and that was largely thanks to Hummels. It is unclear whether the 33-year-old expected to have a surplus shortly after Dortmund signed Nico Schlotterbeck for $22 million from Freiburg and Niklas Süle in a loose move from Freiburg. Bayern Munich this summer.
Both were automatically considered as Hummels strikers in Dortmund’s new hierarchy. But instead, Hummels took the new hires as motivation; The 2014 World Cup winner spent more time on education in the summer and now looks slimmer and faster than last season, during which fitness issues delayed him.
This season, Hummels has started 4 games, adding two that he missed due to a cold. Without Hummels, Dortmund lost 3-0 to RB Leipzig and 3-2 to Cologne. he was also on the pitch in Dortmund’s recent 2-0 loss to Union Berlin.
Overall, however, the feeling was that Schlotterbeck and Süle complemented Hummels rather than replacing him. Against Man City, Hummels won 75% of his pitch matches and 50% of his tackles. everything City threw at Dortmund and rightfully earned praise from the foreign media.
The game’s numbers further underscore what has been a smart season for Hummels. According to Wyscout, the Dortmund defender is a moment in the Bundesliga with 80% of the duels won, only Maxim Leitsch from Mainz with 81. 4%. Hummels is also a time in aerial duels. won (67. 44%) only Amos Pieper of Werder (73. 17%).
But it wasn’t just his defensive skills that stood out. According to FBREF, Hummels ranks 93rd smartest in the percentile with 74. 33 passes attempted in 90 minutes among all players in the five smartest European leagues and even more impressive in the 91st most sensible by percentile with 65. 05 successful passes. His 0. 14 balls over 90 minutes place him in the 95th most sensible according to the percentile.
In other words, not only is Hummels a top-notch defender again, but his aerial game almost made him a quarterback. All those figures are attributes for German national team coach Hansi Flick and it’s no surprise that Hummels is on the starting list. of 44 players that the head coach presented to FIFA ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.
Being included in this list doesn’t mean Hummels will finally be on the plane for the World Cup. But performances like the one that opposed City will make Flick almost forget about the Dortmund defender.
Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing podcast and the US regional manager. UU. de Transfermarkt. He has also been in The Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth