Konstantelias’ Dream Debut Ends in Injury Concern for Dortmund
For 45 minutes, Giannis Konstantelias looked every bit the answer to Borussia Dortmund’s right-wing question. By the 54th, he was limping off, hands over his face, and an entire stadium was holding its breath.
The 23-year-old twisted his knee in a challenge shortly after the restart with Dortmund 2-0 up. He went down, stayed there, then covered his face – the kind of reaction that instantly changes the mood in a ground. Dortmund’s physios rushed on and performed the classic drawer test on the pitch, checking the stability of the knee joint. The signs were not encouraging.
Konstantelias tried to get up, but there was no way back. He left the field in the 54th minute, limping to warm applause from the home fans as Marcel Sabitzer came on in his place. On the big screens, TV replays did nothing to ease the anxiety; they hinted at something more serious.
Niko Kovac walked straight over to his new winger on the touchline, trying to console him, trying to lift him emotionally if not physically. It didn’t really work. The concern was written all over the Dortmund coach’s face.
After the match, 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 was a cruciate ligament tear, he replied: “That concern is certainly there.” Further examinations, he confirmed, will follow. Kovac struck a similarly dark tone: “What the doctor told me definitely did not sound good.” He stopped there, refusing to go into more detail.
The worry is all the greater because Konstantelias had been close to perfect before the injury. On his Bundesliga debut in the black and yellow, he was electric. Together with his compatriot Konstantinos Karetsas, he drove almost every dangerous Dortmund attack, drifting inside, demanding the ball, playing with the swagger of someone who had been here for years, not days.
His performance earned its reward in first-half stoppage time. At 45+1, he made it 2-0, latching onto a sharp pass from Maximilian Beier from the left. Konstantelias cut inside, went for goal, and his shot squeezed through the legs of HSV defender Sebastiaan Bornauw. The defender’s slight touch wrong-footed Daniel Heuer-Fernandes, leaving the goalkeeper helpless.
It was the kind of debut goal that announces a new signing to the league. A statement finish, right before the break. A new era on the wing, or so it seemed.
Only days earlier, Dortmund had brought Konstantelias in from PAOK Saloniki for 26 million euros after a move for Said El Mala from 1. FC Cologne collapsed. The Greek winger arrived with a clear brief: fill the void left by Karim Adeyemi’s transfer to Barca. He had already impressed in the Super Cup against Bayern Munich, even in defeat, showing flashes of exactly why Dortmund pushed so hard to get him.
Now the club waits for scans and medical reports instead of highlight reels. A flawless debut, a goal, a connection with the crowd – and then a twist of the knee that could shape not only his season, but Dortmund’s plans for the months ahead.
