On Tuesday evening, Borussia Dortmund overcame AC Milan at the San Siro to book their ticket for the knockout stages of the Champions League. In a game that saw end-to-end drama, at times exposing a few flaws within the Dortmund side, one man stood strong.
With 19 defensive actions, Mats Hummels was at times single-handedly keeping Dortmund in the tie. Due to how high Julian Ryerson and Ramy Bensebaini were pushing forward at times, the 34-year-old was left to defend by himself on a number of occasions.
However, he did so excellently and was duly voted Player of the Match by UEFA. Nevertheless, the praise for Hummels did not stop there, as after the game, head coach Edin Terzić referred to his experienced centre-half as a footballing god:
“He played an incredible game today. There are certainly some people in this room who can remember Jürgen Kohler’s game in Manchester. He was then named a football god. I don’t think that Kohler’s performance back then was significantly better than Hummels’ performance today.”
Regardless, for Hummels, this was not a one-off performance. The 34-year-old has been in phenomenal form this season, fighting his way back into Terzić’s side as well as the German National Team. While Dortmund look to be out of the title race, they will need the veteran to continue performing at such a level if they are to taste either Champions League or DFB-Pokal success this season.
GGFN | Will Shopland
