Julian Brandt: Why the Germany international deserves to be in the Borussia Dortmund starting line-up
Losing first-team players of the calibre of Thorgan Hazard and Axel Witsel to injury would have most coaches sweating buckets, but Borussia Dortmund's Lucien Favre has an uber-malleable replacement to soften the blow in Julian Brandt.
Two substitute appearances, one goal and a big hand in Dortmund's 100 per cent start to the 2019/20 Bundesliga campaign: it's a common tactic in battle to save your trump card for last and, in that regard, Brandt has been Favre's ace of spades.
On Matchday 1, the former Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder scored 14 minutes into his BVB league debut to put the seal on a crushing 5-1 win over Augsburg.
Watch: Dortmund's opening day win over Augsburg!
The 23-year-old midfielder's cameo was lively and the volleyed finish for his goal crisp, but Favre opted to stick rather than twist for the Matchday 2 trip to Cologne - to start with, anyway.
Cologne led after 28 minutes through a Dominick Drexler goal, and were deserved leaders at the break. The shock-o-metre was creeping towards red when Cologne's Anthony Modeste had a second-half goal ruled out, before Brandt entered the fray for holding midfielder Julian Weigl in the 62nd minute.
The move had the desired effect. And while Brandt wasn't directly involved in Jadon Sancho's equaliser, he was at the heart of BVB's game-changing second.
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One glance out wide, one tremendously weighted first-time pass for the run of Lukasz Piszczek - the pass to the assist was even better than the searching cross that enabled Achraf Hakimi to head Dortmund in front for the first time.
"Julian changed the game," said Favre of Brandt, after Dortmund eventually ran out 3-1 winners thanks to Paco Alcacer's injury-time strike. "All he can do is to keep putting himself forward for the starting line-up."
For Brandt, it could well be a case of third time's a charm.
Fellow summer signing Hazard started Dortmund's first two league assignments on the left-hand side of the attacking three behind Alcacer, but a rib issue is expected to keep the Belgium international out of action for at least the Matchday 3 meeting with promoted Union Berlin.
Watch: Julian Brandt's Bundesliga Mixtape!
Raphael Guerreiro is a viable alternative, having been deployed in the position in 16 of his 23 Bundesliga appearances last season, while Jacob Bruun Larsen was Hazard's direct replacement in the 83rd minute in Cologne, and is another natural fit on the left flank.
Mahmoud Dahoud and Thomas Delaney, meanwhile, are tried-and-tested candidates to fill the void of waylaid midfield general Witsel, who faces a spell on the sidelines with an adductor tear.
Favre is blessed with options, yet the case for Brandt - a winger by trade, but reimagined in a central role by Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz during the second half of last season - is as good as watertight.
As well as finishing 2018/19 with seven goals and 11 assists - tying his previous single-season best - the 25-time Germany international was involved in 171 shots on goal - more than any Bayer player and fourth in the league-wide rankings.
His 107 passes to a shot were only outdone by Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich (108); he played a league-high 56 one-two passes - almost twice as many as the next best in that category; and seven of his set-piece deliveries (four corners, three free-kicks) produced goals.
Fifty substitute minutes into his Dortmund career, he's already scored one from two attempts on goal and hit the mark with 93.1 per cent of his attempted passes, including the aforementioned knife-through-butter effort against Cologne. Anyone would think the Black-Yellows had found Marco Reus' long-lost twin.
Appropriately enough, it's alongside rather than in the shadow of BVB's captain fantastic, where Brandt's career could truly catch fire.
Chris Mayer-Lodge
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