Because Dortmund’s regular goalkeeper Gregor Kobel is injured, BVB had to nominate a new substitute keeper for the top match in Munich: Roman Bürki came in surprisingly.
The 2020/21 season finale was the last time Roman Bürki stood in goal for Borussia Dortmund. On 22 May, the Swiss played his part in the 3:1 home victory against Bayer 04 Leverkusen with a good performance. Now the 31-year-old is experiencing the big stage again – at least from the substitutes’ bench, as the Ruhr Nachrichten write.
Creeping degradation under Terzic
The goalkeeper change at BVB took shape a little earlier – Bürki afforded himself a black day in the 2:4 in Gladbach on matchday 18 and injured his shoulder to boot. When he was fit again, the coach at the time, Edin Terzic, put his faith in Marwin Hitz.
Bürki then sat on the bench for eight consecutive games during the rest of the season before Hitz also injured himself in a collision with colleague Manuel Akanji and Bürki returned for the remaining three Bundesliga games and the cup final against RB (4:1).
Kobel arrived from Stuttgart for the new season and BVB reorganised the goalkeeper hierarchy: Kobel established himself as the regular keeper, Hitz became his deputy and Luca Unbehaun or Stefan Drljaca from the U-23 squad stood by in case of need.
Bürki’s only job this season under coach Marco Rose was to train – from regular keeper to relegated player with the number 38, a role Bürki found very difficult to accept. Although he praised Kobel, he got to know the “tough side of the football business”. In winter, a transfer to FC Lorient (Ligue 1) was on the cards, but it fell through. Instead, he will be working in the USA from the summer of 2023 – as the new keeper of the new MLS club St. Louis City SC.
