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Borussia Dortmund 2018/19 Player Awards

By Jorge Alessandro Arias

GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 08: Thomas Delaney of Dortmund celebrates after scoring his team's first goal with team mates during the Bundesliga match between FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund at the Veltins Arena on December 08, 2018 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images)
GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 08: Thomas Delaney of Dortmund celebrates after scoring his team's first goal with team mates during the Bundesliga match between FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund at the Veltins Arena on December 08, 2018 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images) /
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DORTMUND, GERMANY – MAY 11: Julian Weigl of Borussia Dortmund in action during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Fortuna Duesseldorf at the Signal Iduna Park on May 11, 2019 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images)
DORTMUND, GERMANY – MAY 11: Julian Weigl of Borussia Dortmund in action during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Fortuna Duesseldorf at the Signal Iduna Park on May 11, 2019 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images) /

Biggest Surprise

As stated before, this season brought to us multiple surprises! Not only result-wise but rather how well some players performed outside of their usual positions. In this case, the award for biggest surprise of the season goes to Julian Weigl for his performances as center-back.

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Julian Weigl’s quality on the ball is undeniable. Ever since his first season at the club his main virtues were clear passing, solid ball control and an extraordinary vision. When the signings of Thomas Delaney and Axel Witsel were announced, many fans were left wondering if this could mean Weigl’s minutes were already counted. After all, if a new manager arrives plus new players, nothing is certain for you. This was Julian Weigl’s case.

He was immediately dropped to the bench in favor of Delaney, Witsel and even Mahmoud Dahoud. On match-day 17, the very last of 2018, Julian Weigl partnered up with Ömer Toprak at centre back for a 2:1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. This game would mark what would become a regular sighting in the majority of games to come for Dortmund during the rest of the season: a starting place at center back.

In the very next match, this time against unbeaten-at-home RB Leipzig, Julian Weigl was even better. He managed to win 60% of his individual duels and had an impressive 95% passing accuracy. This trend would continue for future games as Julian Weigl became reliable as a center back despite the team’s downfall on the second part of the season. All things considered, Julian Weigl at center back was definitely the biggest surprise performance by any player on this squad!

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