After a shaky first part of the season, Borussia Dortmund is playing its first competitive game in 2024 and the starting match up couldn’t be better – against the last-placed team in the league. Darmstadt came to Bundesliga in 2023 and by all accounts will come to Bundesliga 2 when the season ends in May. With only one victory at home for the entire first half of the season, Darmstadt have little hope of making it against the big boys, and BVB are one of them. This is Borussia’s worst season in years, as they are already out of the title chase and have to be much, much better in the second part in order to make it at least to the Champions League spot, from which they are now six points away. But they made two signings in January, both loans from the Premier League and one is their former player. This time, he can’t play the “coach hates me” card: Sancho gets another chance to impress at his former homeJadon Sancho was a hit in his first time in Dortmund and then he moved on for big bucks to Manchester United. Everything was fine for him until he got in a row with current coach Erik ten Hag, who left him out of the team due to lack of effort in training. The player hit back publicly, claiming the allegations were untrue and accused the Dutch coach of favoritism. That was the end of their relationship, since the player refused to apologize and he was shipped back to Germany, where he is expected to play at least a few minutes against Darmstadt. 🗣️ “The lad had it all at his feet”Paul Merson says he believes Jadon Sancho will come to regret how he handled the situation at Manchester United when he retires from football ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/1zAXK06756— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 13, 2024 But his other Manchester coach didn’t find Sancho to be a problematic player at all. After Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking, Manchester United appointed Ralf Rangnick as an interim manager, who was supposed to stay as an adviser when the season ends. The other part of the deal was never put into place and Rangnick is now an Austria national team coach, but was asked to give his opinion on the player. 🚨 Jadon Sancho is in the Borussia Dortmund squad to face Darmstadt today. #MUFC [@TheBVBCentral] pic.twitter.com/Vzl3IcKZvq— mufcmpb (@mufcMPB) January 13, 2024 When asked about his apparent lack of discipline, the German coach failed to recall any problems with him, and he also spoke about Sancho as a potential reinforcement for Dortmund in the second part of the season. “In the six months I had him, there wasn’t a single discipline problem. On the contrary. He is a calm and pleasant guy. He had his best time in Dortmund and, when he was healthy, he always played for me. However, he wasn’t as carefree as in Dortmund. But that was also due to the overall situation. When he was fit, he was set and did well under me. He no longer had a chance in Manchester. He now has to get back into a rhythm and really into shape in Dortmund. From his point of view, the change makes perfect sense” he said to Sky Sports Germany. BUNDESLIGA – MATCHDAY 17Friday Bayern – Hoffenheim 3-0 (1-0)/Musiala 18, 70, Kane 90+1/Saturday 17.30: (2.10) Koln (3.50) Heidenheim (3.80)17.30: (5.90) Augsburg (4.20) Leverkusen (1.55)17.30: (2.10) Freiburg (3.40) Union Berlin (3.60)17.30: (2.25) Mainz (3.50) Wolfsburg (3.40)17.30: (1.48) RB Leipzig (4.60) Eintr.Frankfurt (7.50)20.30: (5.50) Darmstadt (4.50) Dortmund (1.55)Sunday 17.30: (2.20) Bochum (3.60) Werder (3.40)19.30: (3.50) M’ gladbach (3.90) Stuttgart (2.05)***odds are subject to change***
