Borussia Dortmund star Ramy Bensebaini emerged from 2025-26 season as one of Europe's most underrated defenders. The Algerian star was among the key defensive linchpins in BVB's backline that shipped in the least number of goals in the Bundesliga last term, standing out for his physical style of play, aggressive tackling and a refreshing offensive threat from set-pieces.
Although the club was staring at a massive squad overhaul this summer - which also came to pass given the handful of high-profile departures and some marquee new arrivals - Bensebaini was among those players considered untouchable by the club. His contract runs out in June 2027 and while no new deal has been agreed for him, Die Borussen viewed him highly internally and even turned down interests for him.
His start to the new season though, was polar opposite to everything Bensebaini achieved last season. A poor clearance on Michael Olise allowed Nathaniel Brown to open the scoring for Bayern Munich in the Supercup, before running his studs into Ismael Saibari late on that earned him a straight red, leaving Dortmund to play with a man down for the stoppage-time period.
Now, his fate has been sealed. The DFB have announced a two-match suspension for the star. But what are the game that he will be missing? Luckily for Dortmund, Bensebaini's sanction doesn't apply in the Bundesliga. Since he was sent off in a cup game, his suspension is limited to cup games only.
So, much to Niko Kovac's respite, the Algerian international is available for selection in their league opener against Hamburger SV on Saturday. But he will have to sit out of their DFB-Pokal clash four days later, when Dortmund travel to Hamburg to face-off with fifth-tier side HEBC in the first round of the competition.
If the BVB were to prevail and advance into the next round, the centre-back will have to sit out of that game too, scheduled to take place between 27 and 28 October. But should the side bow out, the suspension will be carried over to next season, meaning Bensebaini would then miss the opening round of the 2027-28 DFB-Pokal too.
Although Dortmund are widely expected to prevail over HEBC next week, Bensebaini's unavailability is set to stretch their defense further with Nico Schlotterbeck already missing with injury. Kovac will be forced to deploy new signing Joane Gadou with Filippo Mane also likely to come in. Luca Reggiani is another option, although reports indicate he's fallen behind in pecking order right now.
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