He scored, then he was gone
First-half stoppage time, Giannis Konstantelias got his first goal in Dortmund colours. Shortly after the restart he was walking off the pitch. On Sunday evening the club confirmed why: a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the left knee.
Several months out. Borussia Dortmund did not put a date on it, which usually tells you enough.
The 23-year-old Greek was making his Bundesliga debut against Hamburg SV. The injury came from a fall after a midfield challenge, nothing dramatic to look at. BVB won the game 2-0.
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Thirty-two million euros, ninety minutes
Dortmund paid PAOK Salonika 32 million for him this summer. He was the headline attacking signing of their window.
One Bundesliga appearance later, that money is in the treatment room. ACL tears typically cost a player six to nine months. Call it a season, for someone who had barely started learning the league.
The club put out a message of support, the whole BVB family and so on. It will not shorten the rehab by a day.
Two days to fix a hole in the attack
The window shuts on Tuesday. That is the problem. Dortmund now have to work out, quickly, whether to buy cover or ride out the season with what they have.
Joey Veerman was already through the door this summer to deepen the midfield. Konstantelias was the one meant to bring bite in the final third, and that job is vacant until spring at the earliest.
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