Gregor Kobel: Borussia Dortmund’s man for the big occasion

Gregor Kobel put in another inspired performance on Wednesday to lead Borussia Dortmund to a 1-0 win over Chelsea. The goalkeeper is quickly becoming his side’s big game player.

Borussia Dortmund managed to hold onto all three points following 90 minutes of heart-pounding and end-to-end football against Chelsea on Wednesday night. It was a night that saw the club notch a win in its first-ever UEFA Champions League meeting with the south London side and produce just enough quality in attack to head to Stamford Bridge with reasonable hopes of advancing to the next round.

There are plenty of justifiable reasons to applaud the individual brilliance of Karim Adeyemi for his solo effort that saw him breeze past the most expensive player in English Premier League history. Indeed, apart from Adeyemi’s finest moment in his young career, a goal didn’t really seem to be in the cards in that second half for Edin Terzic’s men. The same cannot be said, however, for Chelsea.

Graham Potter’s men created more than enough chances to win the game and dominated much of the second half. On a night when post-game reports sang the praises of standout performers, none will have been quite as loud as Gregor Kobel’s.

International viewers may have just been introduced to the brilliance of the Swiss keeper, but those who follow both Borussia Dortmund and the Bundesliga are all too familiar with these types of displays.

There are more than a few reasons that, despite both the winter signing of Yann Sommer and the Manuel Neuer dilemma, media speculation gradually increases with every passing week in regard to Bayern Munich’s alleged interest in the league’s standout shot-stopper.