Mats Hummels departs from the limelight with peculiar emotions.
Mats Hummels, the defensive leader for Borussia Dortmund, made a comeback at Wembley but still couldn't prevent the defeat against Real Madrid. The future of his career following this Champions League final is unclear.
At 19:17 local time, Hummels took the Wembley field, warmed up, and waved to the Dortmund fans who had already filled the stadium. While warming up, the 2014 World Cup winner noted the enthusiastic roar of the 25,000 fans in black and yellow.
It was evident that Hummels, who wanted to prove his worth on this grand stage, appreciated this event. He had been a top player for years due to his skills on the pitch and his charisma in front of the cameras. Lately, there had been a lot of speculation about whether he would retire, stay another year at Dortmund, or seek a challenging opportunity overseas. "To be honest, I have no idea," he replied during the ZDF interview in Wembley. "It feels odd not to know."
The other reason for the countless conversations was that, despite his impeccable form for months, he wouldn't be attending the Euros. Hummels had used the Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain, where he put in another remarkable performance, for his own objectives. Hummels commented on his collection of trophies, which only lacked the Champions League and the European Championship. He hoped to close these gaps during his career.
Unfortunately, these aspirations will remain dreams, as Hummels and Dortmund suffered defeat at Wembley, and Nagelsmann didn't select him for his squad. The performance of the defender wearing number 15 in the 0:2 loss against Real Madrid was criticized by an observer: "Leaving this individual out would have been one of the worst decisions ever made by any former German national team coach." However, one could also see it differently: If Nagelsmann had managed to find 27 German players who were better than Mats Hummels, the German national team would have likely won the European Championship.
Hummels, though, should not fret about such matters. Instead, he must accept that, ultimately, Real Madrid claimed the trophy again, regardless of the exhilarating game the Borussia played. Hummels described the 0:2 result as "extremely agonizing": "We put on a spectacular display. We arrived with courage, passion, and player quality. With everything that comes with it. And then we made a few insignificant mistakes, and Real Madrid won."
Hans-Joachim Watzke, the BVB president, was also "completely disillusioned, which is perfectly normal," as he mentioned in a statement: "I was already apprehensive at halftime because we failed to score a goal despite our dominance. You have these opportunities in a final, and in the end, Real Madrid has always prevailed."
Just as predicted. The Borussia displayed their phenomenal opponent in the first half, nearly overwhelming them. A 0:0 at halftime seems like a catastrophe at first glance, but in fact, nothing had happened. However, with this gameplay and this opponent, observers had a strong belief that it would end in revenge for the BVB. A whopping five chances, from big to massive, would not have been possible for Real Madrid. And, of course, the game followed the expected pattern in the second half. The two goals from Carvajal (after a corner from Kroos) and Vinicius Junior struck the Borussia straight in the heart.
Eventually, at the end of ninety enjoyable minutes, Hummels even attempted to play as a forward to turn the tide. At that point, the veteran was left with little energy to make a sprint. After the final whistle, Mats Hummels was then approached by a ZDF reporter and asked for his insights.
When Mats Hummels stood in front of the ZDF reporter a few minutes later and shared his opinions, the unavoidable question couldn't be missed: What's next after the summer break? "I honestly have no idea," the Wembley performance standout replied. "It feels a little strange, but I don't know." It would be wise for Dortmund to pull out all the stops in an attempt to persuade this remarkable player to continue for a while longer.
