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Back to basics: this could be the motto of the BVB trip to Belgium for Thomas Meunier.
The 29-year-old right-back, transferred on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, will face Club Bruges in the third match of the Champions League group with Borussia; the club that once raised his star as a professional footballer. (Champions League: Club Brugge – Borussia Dortmund from 21 in LIVETICKER)
The 1.90-meter-tall defender played for Bruges between 2011 and 2016, winning both the league and cup as a crowd favorite at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
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Meunier likes to compare the best Belgian club to the BVB: “Both clubs are very popular, have many fans across the country and a similar mentality. I like to describe BVB as the further development of my home club: ambitious, authentic and pleasantly down to earth “.
Meunier is the long runner of Dortmund
Tonight, the 2018 World Cup third-placed finisher will return to his old job – and that as Dortmund’s longtime favorite. Why: In all ten official matches (792 minutes), the Belgian was on the pitch and was always seeded with coach Lucien Favre, despite some shaky appearances. Only defender Mats Hummels (882 minutes), who is unable to play for Bruges due to injury, has played even more.
Meunier himself was very critical of the weak performances against Augsburg (0: 2) and Roma (1: 3) and has now made his mark. “I had a lot of new experiences, a new coach, a new environment – everything was new to me,” he says looking back on his first three months in the zone. “But that’s what I expected. After a hiatus of almost six months, I played soccer again and I’m gradually regaining the feeling of the game.”
More recently, however, Meunier showed why BVB brought him for the right side of the defense. The performances in the derby against Schalke 04 (3-0) and in the 2-0 wins against Zenit Sankt-Petersburg and Arminia Bielefeld were decent, which helped to ensure that the zero was at the end.
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“It was a very good week,” summed up the international. “When I look at the whole team, I have to say: it has worked well recently. I also do my part, in defense and in attack.”
Meunier with duties other than Hakimi
One thing is clear: Meunier will no longer be a fast and dangerous winger like his predecessor Achraf Hakimi (now Inter Milan). He shouldn’t even perform this task at the BVB.
“La Machine” (The Machine), as Meunier was called in Bruges, was called to stabilize the BVB defense, which had sometimes been shaky in the previous season. He, who worked as a worker and postman, was born mainly from his irrepressible desire to win and from his robust variety.
Meunier said the last time about comparisons with Hakimi in The last hour a little annoyed: “You shouldn’t compare the incomparable. I’m not Hakimi. Dortmund committed me with the clear vision of a new balance because the team conceded an average of two or three goals in the previous first half of the season”
Malocher Meunier can convince the critics of his old job tonight.
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