Nico Schlotterbeck immediately took on a leading role at Borussia Dortmund. The return to SC Freiburg and his brother Keven will be special.
Nico Schlotterbeck is not afraid at all. The return to the home of many years, the duel with brother Keven or the reunion with old friends – all of this triggers in the central defender of Borussia Dortmund pure feelings of happiness. “I’m really in the mood for it,” he said before the lightning reunion with SC Freiburg: “I’m really happy because I had the most successful year of my career there, that was my breakthrough.”
He owes a lot to the people of Breisgau and in particular to coach Christian Streich. “If I hadn’t been in Freiburg, I might not have come to Dortmund,” reported the younger of the Schlotterbeck brothers. But all solidarity will rest for 90 minutes on Friday (8.30 p.m.), only 83 days after the bitter defeat in the final of the DFB Cup – only three points count for BVB in the championship fight.
Streich: “The players know Nico”
“It won’t be an easy task. They fight every duel, everyone defends their own penalty area. Despite everything, I think we’ll win there,” said the 22-year-old. His mentor of many years, Streich, wants to prevent this at all costs, also by using the special knowledge of Schlotterbeck’s qualities.
“We know how Nico plays and what kind of guy he is,” said the 57-year-old: “We adapt to his individual abilities. He has a good shot, a good game shift. But you don’t discuss that for long because the players know him. At most we will remember it.”
Schlotterbeck hopes for a nice reception
Nico Schlotterbeck in Freiburg in front of the SC fans after the cup defeat.
Even if the return comes “very early”, he believes that “the fans welcome me the way they said goodbye to me,” said Schlotterbeck. Instead of whistling, the national player went with applause in May – also because he can carry fans with his open nature.
He did that right away in Dortmund, too, in the 1-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen at the start he whipped the crowd after every successful move. And even a dislocated shoulder couldn’t stop him – he continued playing after a short correction.
Made-to-measure debut at Dortmund
In central defense he took over responsibility immediately after Niklas Süle was injured. “He played an excellent game. He won a lot of tackles, won a lot of header duels and played great passes,” enthused coach Edin Terzic. For the Winter World Cup in Qatar, Hansi Flick has long since planned the extroverted left foot.
“He’s very self-confident when he’s in possession – if he makes mistakes, which can happen, he just keeps going. We need that,” emphasizes the national coach. At ex-club Freiburg, Schlotterbeck now has to face the next baptism of fire in front of his whole family – even if brother Keven certainly wants to prevent that.
