Three takeaways from Borussia Dortmund's 7-1 win to begin pre-season
By Eli Brand
Borussia Dortmund played their first friendly of the summer against DEW-21 on Friday, winning 7-1 behind braces from Felix Nmecha and Youssoufa Moukoko. Excitement is high in Dortmund with Nuri Sahin promising attacking football. Certain youth players stood out alongside new tactics and other first-team players returned to action for the first time since the Champions League final.
The main takeaway from this friendly is the shift to the trust in the youth movement. The friendly against DEW-21 gave a glimpse of those in charge giving opportunities to the team's youth team players. On Friday, 12 U-20 players featured for Borussia Dortmund.
With this, Sahin showed that a path to the first-team is open to the young players. Some players took advantage of this. Youssoufa Moukoko scored a brace, while Paris Brunner and Almugera Kabar were on the score-sheet as well. Kabar and Brunner will be expected to train with the senior team this summer.
In the second half a team of U-19s and second team players played alongside Moukoko, including two 17 year olds. The surprise standout was not the highly rated Tyler Meiser who was not bad, but rather Elias Benkara.
Still likely a few years away from the first-team, Benkara looked assured on the ball with a back-heel pass under pressure off a high aerial clearance going directly to a teammate. He also showed excellent distribution for his age and had strong close control to win a throw-in following a cleared corner.