[Gossip Board] Brandt: Looking Back On My Seven-year Dortmund Career, I Almost Won Every Championship With The Team

Hupu News on May 8th, this Friday night local time, Dortmund will play against Frankfurt at home. This will be Brandt’s last appearance at home as a Dortmund player. A week later, when Dortmund challenge Werder Bremen, the place where Brandt was born, the two sides will officially terminate their successful cooperation for seven years. Speaking on the club's official podcast, the soon-to-be 30-year-old attacker reflected on titles won and missed, teammates from the past and those who had the most profound impact on him.

Scored a goal in his Bundesliga debut for Dortmund

The first Bundesliga game was a special moment for me, as I scored my first goal for Dortmund right away. Now facing his last home game, Brandt recalled this in the podcast. The last time he walked from the tunnel to the court, for him, running out to warm up before every home game was a top moment. This road, this tunnel, the picture slowly unfolded, and you saw the majestic momentum.

In the summer of 2019, 23-year-old Brandt joined Dortmund. In his first interview with the club's membership magazine, he said some words that showed both reflection and maturity, as well as inner football romanticism: "I came to Dortmund because I had this idea, and I didn't want to sell myself to just one club. I always try to remind myself why we play football in the first place, because we have derived joy from it since we were young."

Technology and romance, only two champions are a bit regretful

Brandt relied on his outstanding skills to convey a special love for football. He is often able to make fans jump out of their seats, even stunned into disbelief – just like that technically difficult goal against Hoffenheim almost a year ago: sensing space, sprinting, first from a tight angle and then volleying the ball into the net – this series of consecutive actions forms an almost perfect picture.

The shortcoming is: Brandt only won two championships during the seven years he played for Dortmund. One was the German Super Cup when he first joined in 2019, and the other was the German Cup held behind closed doors about two years later during the 2021 epidemic. "I almost won every title with Borussia Dortmund. When I arrived I won the Super Cup, the next year the DFB-Pokal. Then the league title and the following year the Champions League final – you could have had it all." Brandt looked back on the Bundesliga title he missed in 2023 and the Champions League final in 2024 and said, "Of course I feel melancholy because I'm thinking: What else could have been gained?", "But I can accept it well and evaluate it: Even so, the value of this time to me has not diminished.", "My value here has not been reduced." Value does not depend on material things or success. "I know it is important in the football world and we play for this in the end." "But even two more championships will not make it better." "There are many other moments, everything you have experienced here." All of this makes up a season, not just the end of it. "

Even after winning the German Cup, he never drove past Borsich Square (this is Dortmund's traditional celebration place). In his opinion, this does not reduce the value of the championship, "Because the situation at that time was that the whole world was in such a situation. Well, no one can change this situation. The golden light of that cup is no less inferior to winning in front of the audience."

Seven years and 107 teammates, the locker room is always united

In seven years at Dortmund, Brandt has been teammates with 107 players. One of the things he is proud of is, "There is no player with whom I have had a conflict, or with whom I feel that I cannot sit down and have a conversation." He clearly pointed out that one thing runs through it from beginning to end: "No matter which season I am in, I always have a team. Good team. Guys are fighting for each other, training together, trying to help each other. I feel that the overall atmosphere of the team is very healthy and very competitive, and we are a tight-knit unit. At the end of the day, it is about pressure, performance and personal feelings. It does not happen naturally. "

Piszczek and Schmelzer's motivation

When talking about the players who had the deepest impact on him, Brandt specifically mentioned two people. He said: "When I think of Piszczek and Schmelzer, I have to know that they later had many physical conditions, but they usually trained like this. In their training process, there was never a moment that was enough to make you have such a condition." The idea is: Oh, they were a little slack in training today. The fact is that they have always tried their best. This mental state of all-out efforts really has an motivating effect on the people around them. It will make people feel encouraged to follow them and do the same all-out things. "

305 games in seven years, ranking among the top three in team history in assists

Brandt has played 588 career games so far, 305 of which were in Dortmund jerseys, which is more than half. He contributed 57 goals and 70 assists for Dortmund in official games. In the history of Dortmund, only Andy Muller with 100 and Reus with 131 assists have more assists than him.