Three areas where Borussia Dortmund need to improve

2. Sabitzer key to addressing midfield issue

Of the three Borussia Dortmund outfield players who made the 2023-24 Champions League Team of the Season, Marcel Sabitzer is the only one left at the club. But the start of the new campaign has been a different story.

Despite his continued good form on the international scene – a goal and two assists against Kazakhstan and Norway – Sahin is yet to get the best out of the Austrian. The situation reached its boiling point after his subpar performance in Brugge.

As a midfield orchestrator in his playing days, Sahin would understand Sabitzer’s frustration at playing out of his position. But things have continued in the same vein with the central midfield partnership of Emre Can and Pascal Groß.

Since missing the comeback win against Bochum with a slight knock, Sabitzer has only made substitute appearances against Celtic and Union Berlin. With Can not making Julian Nagelsmann’s squad and Groß sitting out Monday’s game against the Netherlands, Sahin could be tempted to keep his trusted midfield partnership when Dortmund host St. Pauli on Friday.

Until the November international break, Borussia Dortmund will play seven games in 23 days. Surely we’ll see a different pairing along the way, but that shouldn’t solely rely on rotation. After all, Sabitzer was arguably BVB’s best midfielder, if not player, last season.