By Zach Lowy
Dortmund entered the ultimate matchday of the 2022/23 season with a golden alternative to win their first Bundesliga title in 11 years – all they wanted to do was beat mid-table Mainz at dwelling. As an alternative, they drew 2-2, while Bayern Munich beat Köln 2-1 to edge them to the championship on aim differential. BVB reached the Champions League Closing the next season and had been vying for his or her first European trophy in 27 years after a dominant first-half show in Wembley; as a substitute, Actual Madrid scored two second-half objectives to say their fifteenth European Cup.
This season, nevertheless, Dortmund have hit all-time low. BVB discover themselves in peril of lacking out on European soccer for the primary time in 16 years, with the membership sitting eighth within the Bundesliga desk, one level behind Freiburg, three behind Gladbach, 4 behind Leipzig, and 5 behind fourth-placed Mainz. With the Bundesliga more likely to solely be allotted 4 Champions League spots for 2025/26, and with BVB nearly definitely doomed to exit the Champions League on the quarterfinals, Dortmund have to make up a five-point hole of their ultimate six Bundesliga matches with a view to qualify for the continent’s premier competitors for the tenth straight marketing campaign.
They can’t afford something lower than perfection – they should win their ultimate six matches and hope that their top-four rivals slip up in the course of the season’s dwelling stretch. BVB shall be trying to bounce again from Wednesday’s 4-0 defeat at Barcelona with a victory towards Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, who sit six factors clear atop the desk. And so as to take action, they’ll want a big-time efficiency from Maximilian Beier.
Born in Brandenburg an der Havel, Beier left dwelling at 13 to develop at Energie Cottbus’ academy earlier than becoming a member of Hoffenheim three years later, the place he grew to become their youngest-ever Bundesliga debutant in February 2020. Beier spent two seasons on mortgage at second-tier Hannover 96 earlier than returning to the Rhein-Neckar-Enviornment for the 2023/24 season, the place he loved a breakout yr and completed as their high scorer with 16 league objectives (none from the penalty spot). This prompted Julian Nagelsmann at hand him his maiden Germany call-up, with Beier making his aggressive debut in a 1-1 draw with Switzerland within the Euros.
Regardless of having performed only one season of constant minutes within the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund determined to signal Beier as their substitute for Niclas Fülkrug, paying €28.5 million (rising to €30m in potential bonuses) and tying him all the way down to a five-year contract. After a sluggish begin to life in North Rhine-Westphalia, Beier lastly opened his account on November 2 with a aim and help vs. Leipzig, earlier than registering a aim vs. Freiburg, a aim and help vs. Wolfsburg, and a aim and help vs. Union Berlin within the following months.
A second striker by nature, Beier has spent his first yr in Dortmund both coming off the bench or beginning in an unnatural large ahead place, however he’s nonetheless managed to capitalise on Donyell Malen’s January transfer to Aston Villa and emerge as a significant contributor in assault. Solely Serhou Guirassy (15) and Jamie Gittens (8) have managed extra Bundesliga objectives in BVB’s squad than Beier (7), while solely Guirassy (16) has extra aim contributions than Beier (12).
Maybe a very powerful aim of his Dortmund tenure got here on March 12 in Lille. Tightly guarded by two pink shirts, Beier swiveled to obtain the ball on his favoured proper foot and took a half-second to regular himself earlier than firing a rocket into the top-right nook, securing a comeback win for BVB and reserving their ticket to the Champions League quarterfinals. He was stored underneath wraps within the following match vs. Leipzig, however relatively than drop him to the bench, new BVB supervisor Niko Kovač selected to reposition him from a large ahead to a second striker. Working alongside Karim Adeyemi in a entrance two, Beier repaid Kovač’s belief by grabbing a brace and subjecting Mainz to their first defeat in two months, earlier than bagging two assists towards Freiburg. He then dropped to the bench towards Barcelona, solely to exchange Adeyemi at halftime.
“Beier clearly had a sluggish begin, however contemplating it’s his first season and the way a lot turmoil the crew has been in as a result of general instability of the system and training workers, I believe he’s performed fairly nicely,” said Brian Szlenk Straub, the co-host of the Dortmund Dispatch podcast. “His ending was a bit large of the mark previous to the second half of the season as he missed fairly a couple of probabilities, however I chalk that as much as the instability the crew confronted as an entire and presumably not being on the peak of his confidence. He finds area very nicely, which is underlined by the sheer quantity of alternatives he had in that first half of the season that merely didn’t pan out. We’re beginning to see him settle into this crew, and he’ll solely proceed to get higher as his time with Dortmund continues.”
Having beforehand struggled underneath Nuri Şahin, Beier has taken his recreation to a different degree underneath Kovač. His nimble footwork and low middle of gravity allow him to flee congested conditions with the ball glued to his toes, while he additionally boasts the highly effective operating and tenacity to eat up area in transition and carry the ball throughout ample swaths of the pitch. Irrespective of the place he’s taking part in, Beier’s positional consciousness and fast reactions permit him to time his runs to perfection and exploit gaps in between rival defenders, both creating area for his teammates or fashioning a perfect scoring alternative for himself the place he can then put his excellent ball-striking abilities to good use.
Beier is much from the completed article at 22 years outdated, however he’s nonetheless proven a powerful willingness to adapt to a number of positions and put in a shift each on and off the ball. By no means one to shirk his defensive duties, Beier has confirmed adept at rolling up his sleeves and doing the soiled work, be that urgent the opposition’s build-up or monitoring again to cease a possible counter.
“On the finish of the day, he’s a second striker, and the previous few video games have proven what he can do in a entrance two,” added Straub. “That being mentioned, he’s performed admirably out large when he’s featured there – he at all times exhibits objective and depth when he’s on the pitch and is at all times prepared to run himself into the bottom for this facet. Kovač has discovered a system that actually permits him to flourish…with Adeyemi up entrance alongside him, we’ve actually gotten to see Beier’s means to press opponents and be an actual hazard on the counter.”
Over the previous six years, Maximilian Beier has balanced his burgeoning soccer profession with a rising affinity for darts. When he finds himself operating excessive on adrenaline following a match and unable to sleep, he calms down by throwing darts at his board at dwelling. He’s even hung one other dartboard on the wall in BVB’s coaching floor and has gotten many teammates like Giovanni Reyna and Nico Schlotterbeck hooked on this more and more ubiquitous interest.
If Dortmund are to return away with a victory in Saturday’s Der Klassiker, they’ll want Beier to hit the bullseye and proceed his sensational type in Bavaria.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
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