On May 16th, national coach Julian Nagelsmann will announce his squad for the home European Championships in Berlin. Mats Hummels did everything he could to be there when BVB reached the final in Paris on Tuesday evening (May 7th, 2024).
In the 65th minute there was some real luck. Not that Dortmund hadn’t already had enough of it during the Paris aluminum orgy in the Parc des Princes and should have had enough in the last 25 minutes. But for Hummels’ overall work of art in terms of tackling, anticipation, positional play and then also finishing on goal, it would have been somehow tragic if he had placed this tackle five centimeters further back.
For a long time there was a 100 percent duel rate
As it was, it was exactly enough to clearly shave Ousmane Dembélé’s shin, but the crime scene was slightly outside the penalty area. Referee Daniele Orsato had initially instinctively pointed towards the penalty spot, but then immediately corrected himself and received the approval of the video assistant: In the end, it was perfect timing from Hummels in this scene too, only yellow, only free kick, it stayed 1-0 – until the end.
Up until the 65th minute, the 78-time national player had a perfect tackle rate. Just like his partner Nico Schlotterbeck, who was also still hoping for the European Championship, he won 100 percent of the duels. And that with opponents like Kylian Mbappé, Goncalo Ramos and Dembélé constantly attacking.
Impressive precision in the air and on the ground
The foul on the ex-Dortmunder, according to the databases, was Hummels’ first lost duel. He had no consequences because Marco Asensio missed the free kick, but immediately afterwards Hummels was once again the tower of the battle, his tackles and his headers had impressive precision. In the end, it was Hummels who, next to the post and crossbar, caused PSG’s great despair.
Mats Hummels scores 1-0 against Paris Saint-Germain
Now Nagelsmann has decided on two master players in central defense, which is absolutely understandable: Antonio Rüdiger won the title in Spain with Real Madrid and can reach the final of the Champions on Wednesday (9 p.m., live ticker at sportschau.de), just like Hummels League move in.
Possible number three behind Rüdiger and Tah
Jonathan Tah, who is having a fantastic season with Bayer Leverkusen, will play alongside him at the Euro. But having a Hummels behind Rüdiger and Tah would definitely reflect his performance with a season-long tackle rate of 60 percent, absolute highlight games like the win in Munich and a number of top performances in the premier class.
Most recently, in the national team’s encouraging victories in France (2-0) and against the Netherlands (2-1), Nagelsmann, apart from Niclas Füllkrug, didn’t have a single Dortmund player there. If the national coach now wants to use the momentum and go based on the current performance, as he did with the many players from VfB Stuttgart in the recent nominations, then he would actually have to use BVB again.
Julian Brandt remembers
In addition to Hummels, Schlotterbeck also came into focus again, not only in this game. In addition to his goal preparation for Hummels’ header in the 50th minute, Julian Brandt showed exactly the qualities that are often denied him: He also ran after his opponents on defense, tackled, won balls and didn’t lose them straight away.
Karim Adeyemi shoots in the game against PSG
Karim Adeyemi doesn’t have a chance either; he almost gave BVB the lead before Hummels in Paris with a great solo run. Emre Can and Niklas Süle probably won’t be able to make a comeback, even though they were also an integral part of the national team for a long time.
Strong signals from his body
But the most exciting thing is certainly Hummel’s personality, who, as in the first leg, was awarded the UEFA “Man of the Match” award in Paris. Before the match, he answered what would happen to him and his career beyond this season finale by saying that he wanted to “listen to the signals” that “my body is sending.” These were really outstanding signals twice against Paris. If they get to Nagelsmann and Hummels actually listens to them himself, he would first have to play the Euros and actually extend his expiring contract by two years.