Borussia Dortmund: Where does Julian Brandt fit in after his return from injury?

With Emre Can and Axel Witsel performing well in midfield, what role will Julian Brandt play at Borussia Dortmund after his return from injury?

After suffering an ankle ligament injury against Bayer Leverkusen, Julian Brandt was sidelined for Borussia Dortmund’s wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Paris Saint-Germain, and returned in stoppage time for the 2-0 win away to Werder Bremen. Emre Can has done a great job defensively next to Axel Witsel in the two man pivot, with Brandt returning to fitness will it force the new signing to a spot on the bench?

Ever since Julian Brandt fully converted to a midfielder for Dortmund, he has often been the side’s best player. Games against Fortuna Dusseldorf, Slavia Praha and Union Berlin particularly stand out where it seemed Brandt was behind everything that went well for the side.

He constantly checks in when the backline has the ball, giving them an easy option to lay the ball off or opening up space for Mats Hummels to play long balls into. Moving forward, his movement and passing makes him available for the likes of Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus to link up with, and his ability to pass on the run allows Dortmund’s forwards to run in behind. Brandt will also run in behind himself, taking away defenders and creating space for Erling Haaland and the wingers to go into the box.

With Emre Can, Borussia Dortmund have a defensive grinder with a high workrate, but will rarely take have a similar impact. He scored a screamer against Leverkusen on his debut, but that was the exception. Commonly when he receives the ball in the attacking half he will take one look up before laying it off to either Witsel or one of the wing backs, taking the air out of the attacking move.

The downside of the lack of attack from the midfield was on display in the Bremen game, where Dortmund had little attacking threat down the middle of the park. The wingers and wing backs were asked to do too much, and defenders could key in on Haaland in the middle since nobody was attacking with him.

Often Sancho would get the ball on the touchline and cut in, and nobody would be close enough to him to link with before the attack stalled. Dortmund had to wait until the second half to make the breakthrough, and it took a set piece to do the job. The second goal was exclusively from the wing, with Sancho and Achraf Hakimi linking down the right flank before the latter picked out Haaland in the middle. Dortmund still managed to find the win against Bremen, but the offence has a lower ceiling without Brandt pulling the strings from the midfield.

Marco Reus is still out, meaning Lucian Favre could start Brandt in the front three and keep Can in the middle, but that would severely hinder Brandt’s game. He had a rough spell in the first half of the season when having to play in a more advanced role on the wing or as a false nine, which is what inspired his switch to the midfield last season at Leverkusen in the first place.

It’s a night and day difference for Brandt depending on where he lines up, and compromising his ability for an extra defensive presence is not worth it, especially in the league where teams naturally sit back against Dortmund.

Another option for Can to remain in the lineup would be for Witsel to see the bench instead, but that does not seem like a viable possibility. Witsel has been the engine of the midfield since he arrived last season, and has already proven to have a strong partnership with Brandt.

For Can to take that spot after four starts would be a shortsighted decision, and Dortmund does not have the room for error to experiment with a new midfield duo.

Fortunately for Can, he is not foreign to lining up at center back. He has lined up in that role occasionally for Germany and Liverpool, which will prove valuable for Dortmund’s back three. Manuel Akanji has been benched after he was unable to work out of his regression and while Lukasz Piszczek has filled in fine, the 34-year-old has not been relied on for a long stretch of games in quite some time.

With a run of tough games against the likes of Borussia Monchengladbach, PSG and Schalke on the horizon, Can may be relied on to give the veteran rest and could prove to be a perfect fit in the back three with the ground he can cover paired with his aggressive tackling. Having two centre-backs with him would benefit Can as he could still make his occasional runs forward.

Favre could also line up along a back four, but with the success since switching to a back three that move is hard to foresee. The back four also often fails to mask Dortmund’s defensive issues. So it will be interesting to see how Julian Brandt is used now that he is back from injury.