Quarter-final second leg in the Champions League
This is how Kovač justifies the waiver of Brandt
04/16/2025 – 10:59 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The Dortmund coach Niko Kovač defends Julian Brandt after his bank place in the royal class secondary. Despite the form crisis, the wing player retains his previous status.
The well-known offensive midfield and wing player of Borussia Dortmund, Julian Brandt, was not allowed to play against Barcelona (3-1) in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final. Dortmund coach Niko Kovač defended his player after the game: that was not a measure of punishment.
“Julian has just played everything in the past few weeks. I thought that he took a break,” said the BVB coach after the quarter-final second leg in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. Kovac did not want to recognize a memo in the case of the 28-year-old.
He also emphasized that Brandt continued “the importance he had before”. It was definitely not a measure of punishment, Kovac emphasized after the game. Brandt had recently had to listen to criticism. Observers speak of a “form crisis”.
After taking office in February, Kovac Brandt still called Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz in one breath. In the meantime, however, the offensive player’s shape curve has been significantly flattened. Especially after the 2-2 at Bayern last weekend, the criticism of Brandt had become louder – his performance was rated as weak in many places.
Against Barcelona, he only came into play in the 77th minute – too late to decisively put his stamp on the game. Brandt met shortly after his substitution, but the goal for the supposed 4: 1 was revoked because of an offside position. Despite a strong introduction to the team, BVB left the competition due to the 0: 4 defeat in the first leg.
The 28-year-old Brandt has been under contract with Dortmund since 2019. The Bremer, born in Bremen for Bayer Leverkusen in 2014, had given his Champions League debut. So far, he has played 256 games for Dortmund and scored 44 goals. Whether Brandt will stay with Borussia in summer or dares to start a new start is probably dependent on his further course of the season. His working paper runs until June 2026.