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Borussia Dortmund 2021/22 hinrunde player ratings: Goalkeepers and Defenders

By Tushar Bahl

Manuel Akanji. (Photo by Frederic Scheidemann/Getty Images)
Manuel Akanji. (Photo by Frederic Scheidemann/Getty Images) /
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Dan-Axel Zagadou. (Photo by Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Dan-Axel Zagadou. (Photo by Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) /

Dan-Axel Zagadou (5.5/10)

Zagadou only made his return to action in November after spending the majority of the first half of the season working on his rehab. He struggled to get into his rhythm early on. But he did show a few glimpses of his quality in the final few games of the hinrunde.

Zagadou’s main aim for the second half of the season will be to ensure that he stays injury free. If he can manage to do that, a new contract will no doubt be in the offing for the highly rated defender.

Nico Schulz (3/10)

Raphael Guerreiro’s injury troubles saw Nico Schulz get a lot more minutes on the pitch than he would have expected. While he did look decent at times, his overall performances simply weren’t good enough.

Schulz never really looked comfortable defensively, and had an especially difficult time in Borussia Dortmund’s defeats to Ajax and Sporting CP in the Champions League. And his only good attacking performance came in the dead rubber against Besiktas.

Marin Pongracic (4/10)

Pongracic joined Borussia Dortmund on a loan deal from Wolfsburg on transfer deadline day. He made a fairly decent start and impressed on his debut. But as the weeks went by, it became more and more clear why Wolfsburg hardly ever used him during his time with them.

Pongracic’s performances were lacklustre and lazy at best. He looked sloppy in possession and was caught out of position defensively in almost every game he featured in. And by the end of the hinrunde, he was overtaken by Dan-Axel Zagadou in the pecking order for centre-backs. Unless he miraculously turns things around after the turn of the year, it is difficult to see Pongracic staying at Borussia Dortmund next season.

Next. Julian Brandt: Borussia Dortmund’s creative catalyst and defensive liability. dark

Felix Passlack (4/10)

Passlack was limited to just nine appearances over the first half of the season, with four of them coming from the start. It became clear very quickly that he does not have the quality to play for the Borussia Dortmund first-team on a regular basis. He hasn’t started a game since August, and has been limited to sporadic appearances off the bench.