BVB's new corner king | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund's new corner king

Defender Nico Schlotterbeck picked up two assists from five corners on Matchday 27 against Mainz. It seems that Borussia Dortmund may have unearthed their new corner king...

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Schlotterbeck had never previously taken a corner in the Bundesliga during a journey that has taken him from Freiburg to Signal Iduna Park, via a loan spell at Union Berlin. However, this past weekend, the left-footed centre-back took over corner responsibilities from the right and made an immediate impact.

While his first delivery in the 37th minute came to nothing, his second found the head of captain Emre Can, who powered home for Dortmund's second goal of the evening. His next attempt led to an effort on target from Salih Özcan that was saved and, although corner number four missed its target, number five allowed Maximilian Beier to head past Robin Zentner between the Mainz sticks.

"We needed a left-footed player to put in those inswinging crosses, and Schlotti was pretty much the only one," joked Beier afterwards. Daniel Svensson is usually the designated taker from that side, but he was unable to start against the 05ers, giving Schlotterbeck the chance to shine. The Germany international explained, "The head coach said that Holger Badstuber once took corners for Bayern Munich despite being a central defender. The corners I took in training worked well, so I just tried to do the same thing."

It is fair to say things went to plan. And on the subject of plans, Schlotterbeck also spoke after the game about his future:

"I'm really glad to be here and know what it means to play for the club. We'll sit down in the summer with the bosses and my family to talk through the plan for the coming years and hope we can achieve something good."

The centre-back's current contract runs for two more years, and it would be a huge boost to BVB to keep hold of someone being touted as a future club captain, because even beyond his newfound set-piece ability, Schlotterbeck impressed again against Mainz with his defensive display and his composure in possession. Is there anything the 25-year-old can't do?

On this occasion, his set-piece threat was particularly important as the visit of Mainz had the potential to cause problems. Bo Henriksen's men entered the fixture with the second-best defence in the top flight behind Bayern and were unbeaten in six matches, while Dortmund were without top scorer Serhou Guirassy due to injury.

But even in the absence of their star striker, Niko Kovač's men found solutions. The opener was a beatifully worked goal from Beier, who finished from attacking partner Karim Adeyemi's pass prior to Schlotterbeck's contributions. Those second and third goals gave Dortmund the cushion they ultimately needed as Mainz found a consolation through Paul Nebel.

Interestingly, in the four Bundesliga matches Guirassy has missed this term, Dortmund are yet to taste defeat. They opened the season with a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and a draw with Werder Bremen - the Guinean was struggling with a knee issue - and hammered Freiburg 4-0 on Matchday 11 as the former VfB Stuttgart man was unavailable due to illness.

Looking at the wider picture, the meeting with Mainz kicked off a crucial run for the Black-Yellows over the coming weeks. Next up, they travel to fellow European hopefuls Freiburg, before making the journey to Barcelona for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final. After that, they are on the road again and face the toughest of tasks against Bayern at the Allianz Arena, followed by the second leg against Barcelona and the Matchday 30 game against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

"We want to approach it as we did today - with intensity, strength, getting to the second balls, moving forward quickly and taking our chances," said Beier when outlining the plan for the games to come.

After an up-and-down season thus far, Dortmund appear to be heading in the right direction. It goes without saying that BVB expect to be challenging for top spot in the Bundesliga and get the better of the country's most in-form sides. If that is possible without Guirassy, what can they achieve when he returns? There is certainly plenty to be positive about for Kovač and Co.

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