A Champions League final at Wembley makes sense to many people associated with Borussia Dortmund. Marco Reus and Mats Hummels played there in their defeat to Bayern Munich in 2013. Edin Terzic, now the coach, was in London as a fan.
The stadium holds slightly different emotions for another member of the Dortmund team tasked with delivering a better finish against Real Madrid on Saturday. For Jadon Sancho, his final at Wembley was more than disappointing. That was the night everything changed.
Entered into play by Gareth Southgate in the 120th minute of England’s European Championship final against Italy, Sancho was forced to take a penalty. His shot was stopped, his team lost and he was subjected to horrible racist insults afterwards.
Jadon Sancho reacts after missing his penalty for England in the Euro 2020 final
Just 12 days later, his £73 million move to Manchester United was confirmed. He is perhaps the most exciting young prospect in European football having scored 50 goals and provided 64 assists in 137 games for Dortmund. He was still only 21 years old.
Events since have conspired to mean that, although he won the right to bow out again at Wembley in the biggest match in European club football, he does so having long since lost his place in the team. England – and not with United but back on loan at Dortmund. .
The story of what happened in the meantime depends on who you ask. For some, Sancho was a victim of United’s malaise. Expected to show up and turn it on, he found a team lacking structure, an environment not conducive to allowing him to flourish.
Sancho had never been a soloist despite these deep slaloms. At Dortmund, he had full-backs overlapping to create space and a center forward willing to exchange passes and provide movement. At United it was just a case of giving him the ball and waiting.
Others would mention delays prior to his arrival, murmurs of questionable attitude. Omitted by Erik ten Hag due to his training ground performances, Sancho pushed back, refused to apologize and found himself left out of the squad.
It remains remarkable, something former Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp alluded to as he left Liverpool. “I can’t just believe he’s useless – as other clubs have done,” he said. “Buying a player for £80 million, then sending him out on loan!”
But whatever the situation said about United, it didn’t reflect well on Sancho either, and a response was needed. Dortmund, it seemed, was the best place to provide one. When he returned to Germany, he immediately showed a different figure. “Dortmund is my home,” he said.
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Jadon Sancho described Dortmund as ‘home’ on his return to the club
The club where he had made his name seemed to intuitively understand his role in helping him show his talent, rediscover his true personality. “Jadon is a player who needs to smile,” Terzic noted. “If he smiles, he will shine on the pitch.”
Dortmund took some pressure off him at first, but they got him back into shape. It was not a feat of strength, with two goals and two assists in their 14 Bundesliga matches, but there was a glimpse of the talent that once lit up their stadium. He felt valued again.
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Watch how Jadon Sancho celebrated reaching the Champions League final
“We forget that they are human”
Speaking to Jurgen Klinsmann about this, he emphasized the human aspect. “Jadon has obviously struggled to find his rhythm and settle in again. We often forget that these very talented young players are only human beings,” he said. Aerial sports.
“When they go from one extreme to another and don’t find their fit in one place and something doesn’t work or click and then they decide to go back to where they came before, it It takes time for them to adapt and regain their confidence and back shape.
“In this situation, I think it’s really important that the coach is patient with the player, lets the player do his job and is there to help him, but without putting too much pressure on him so that he can play at the highest level straight away.”
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Watch Jadon Sancho score for the first time since returning to Dortmund on loan
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Watch Jadon Sancho’s stunning debut goal against RB Leipzig in April
Real Sancho reappears
His importance for Dortmund is illustrated by the statistics. Sancho has completed 36 dribbles in the Bundesliga since his return – ranking third in the competition at the time – and has created more chances from open play than any other Dortmund player.
But it was in the Champions League that he really impressed. It was in this competition, in a 2-0 win over PSV in March, that he scored his first goal in front of Dortmund fans. Against Paris Saint-Germain, in the semi-final, he was exceptional.
His 13 successful dribbles in the first leg were not only the most completed by a player in a Champions League match this season, but they were also more than anyone else in the previous two seasons. In fact, only Eden Hazard and Neymar have exceeded this figure in the last decade.
Confidence restored, Sancho once again ran at defenders with determination, full of energy on and off the ball. Since his return, he has blocked more passes than anyone else in the Champions League and ranks second in the competition for recovering possession.
Klinsmann speaks for everyone when he says it’s a joy to see him like this. “(He showed) that he can perform at the highest level that he has demonstrated in the past during his young career. So I was really happy that he has picked up the pace now and has the “looks good, in good shape.”
All that’s left is a fitting ending. Three years later, he can come full circle with another great performance against Real Madrid, marking the history of the club that helped make him a star, in the stadium where his dream began to come true. Back at Wembley. Just back.
