Dortmund Faces Injury Scare for Debut Star Konstantelias
Dortmund fear serious knee injury for debut star Konstantelias
The night was built for a new beginning. It may instead be remembered for a horrible twist – of both fate and knee.
Barely into the second half with Borussia Dortmund cruising 2-0, Giannis Konstantelias drove into another challenge, just as he had done all evening. This time, his right leg stuck, his body turned, and the 23-year-old crumpled to the turf.
He stayed down. Hands over his face. Silence in the stands.
Dortmund’s physios rushed on and immediately carried out the classic drawer test on his knee, checking the stability of the joint right there on the pitch. The signs were not encouraging. Konstantelias tried to get up, but it quickly became clear: his Bundesliga debut was over.
He limped off in the 54th minute to warm, anxious applause from the home crowd, every step a grim reminder of what might be at stake. Marcel Sabitzer came on in his place. On the touchline, Niko Kovac went straight to his new winger, tried to lift his spirits with a few words and an embrace, but there was little he could do. TV replays only deepened the concern.
After the match, Dortmund sporting director Ole Book did not sugar-coat the mood when speaking to Sky. “We should be careful about what we communicate today. But we are certainly concerned about a serious injury,” he said.
Asked directly whether the fear pointed towards a cruciate ligament tear, Book replied: “That concern is certainly there.” He confirmed that detailed examinations would follow.
Kovac sounded equally worried. “What the doctor told me definitely did not sound good,” the coach admitted, stopping short of giving specifics but leaving little room for optimism.
The blow felt particularly cruel because, up to that moment, Konstantelias had delivered exactly what Dortmund paid for – and more.
Wearing the black and yellow for the first time in the league, the Greek winger produced a near-perfect debut. Constantly on the move, constantly demanding the ball, he linked superbly with compatriot Konstantinos Karetsas. Between them, they threaded their way into almost every dangerous Dortmund attack.
His big moment came in first-half stoppage time. At 45+1, Maximilian Beier slipped a precise pass in from the left. Konstantelias took it in stride, cut inside with that sharp, confident touch that had already caught the eye, and went for goal. His shot went through the legs of HSV defender Sebastiaan Bornauw, taking a slight deflection that left goalkeeper Daniel Heuer-Fernandes with no chance. A debut goal, a 2-0 lead, and the feeling that Dortmund had found something special.
This was supposed to be the start of a new chapter. Only days earlier, Konstantelias had arrived from PAOK Saloniki in a €26 million deal after the move for Said El Mala from 1. FC Cologne fell through. He had been earmarked as the man to step into the space left by Karim Adeyemi’s move to Barca, and he had already impressed in the Super Cup against Bayern Munich, even in a 1-2 defeat.
Everything about his early Dortmund days hinted at momentum: the price tag, the trust, the performances. On this night, the performance was there again. The momentum stopped with one twist of the knee.
Now Dortmund wait. The club that thought it had just secured its new right-wing pillar must hold its breath and hope the worst fears – the ones Book and Kovac could barely hide – do not define Konstantelias’s first season in Germany.
