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Borussia Dortmund's New Greek Stars Shine Before Injury Blow
The night started with fireworks. It ended with a gut punch.
At Signal Iduna Park on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund unveiled their new Greek double act and, for 45 minutes, the place felt like it had been given a new soundtrack. Giannis Konstantelias and Konstantinos Karetsas didn’t just debut; they detonated.
"They are two lads who can bring us a different dimension here, and will do too – they showed that today," Niko Kovac said on Sky after the 2-0 win over Hamburger SV. He was right. The “different dimension” wasn’t some vague coaching cliché. It was there, on the grass, in every touch.
A new kind of spark
Dortmund have been crying out for this kind of football. Not just tricks, not just show. Spectacle with purpose. Risk that actually serves the team.
Kovac had flagged it even before kick-off. The squad, he said, now had players who could deliver the spectacular things many demand. Against HSV, that promise took shape. Konstantelias and Karetsas, both signed from smaller European leagues, stepped straight into the Bundesliga and played like they owned the spaces between the lines.
They can do everything Julian Brandt once did for BVB. Then they add something extra. From a standing start, they explode. They don’t just join the rhythm of a game, they change it. They receive the ball between the lines, dead still, then in two touches the whole picture is different. More direct than their German predecessor, more proactive, and with that rare ability to conjure attacking impulses out of nothing.
For 45 minutes, HSV chased shadows.
Konstantelias lights it up
The first half was a showcase. Karetsas and Konstantelias constantly swapped zones, dragging Hamburg’s shape out of joint. Every time Dortmund shifted play from right to left and punched the ball into those half-spaces, HSV’s press fell apart.
Konstantelias, who had already teased his talent in the Super Cup defeat to Bayern, went up a level. His close control at full speed stood out immediately. He glided past opponents, his movements smooth, almost arrogant in their ease. Then came the other side of his game: aggression without the ball.
Around the half-hour mark he snapped into a duel in midfield, won the ball, and Signal Iduna Park erupted as if someone had scored. It was the sort of tackle that tells a crowd: this one gets it.
The goal was the cherry on top. Just before half-time, Konstantelias made it 2-0, marking his first Bundesliga strike. Yes, there was a deflection off a Hamburg defender. But the idea behind the finish – a no-look attempt towards the near corner – crackled with confidence. This was a player already performing as if he had been here for years.
"First half, top – that was perfect. We implemented everything we wanted to implement," defensive leader Waldemar Anton said on Sky, summing up Dortmund’s dominance. A large part of that perfection wore the number of Konstantelias.
Barely 100 minutes into his Dortmund career, he looked on a fast track to cult status. You could already see the scarves with his name, the kids copying his turns in the parks. Then Sunday arrived.
From dream debut to devastating diagnosis
The fear started on Saturday night. It became reality a day later.
Dortmund confirmed that Konstantelias had suffered a cruciate ligament tear on his league debut. The club expects him to be out for several months.
"This news hits us very hard because Giannis has already shown in a very short time why we see him as a great player for Borussia Dortmund," said sporting managing director Lars Ricken. "For now, however, his focus and ours is on his recovery. Giannis has our full support in that."
Kovac had already sounded worried straight after the game. "We have to talk about something more serious there. We will have the examination on Sunday. But at least it doesn't sound good, from what the doctor told me," he admitted.
The injury came shortly after Konstantelias had narrowly missed a second goal. In an innocuous-looking movement during a challenge, his knee went. He stayed down, then left the pitch in the 54th minute, visibly distraught. A debut that had promised a new era for him and for BVB suddenly turned into a long road back.
For Dortmund, it is a sporting blow. For the 26-million-euro signing, it is a personal one.
The hole he leaves behind
The contrast between the halves told its own story. With Konstantelias, Dortmund were fluid, sharp, unpredictable. Without him, the game slowed. HSV improved, yes, but BVB also lost a huge slice of their mobility and invention when their new playmaker went off.
"When Dortmund play from right to left, play into the spaces in between, then first of all you do a lot of chasing and don't really manage to get into the press. That was our problem," HSV captain Nicolai Remberg explained on Sky. He was essentially describing the chaos Konstantelias and Karetsas had caused.
Together, the two Greeks were the source of most of Hamburg’s headaches. They rotated intelligently, always offering an angle, always turning under pressure. Their ball control between the lines kept the tempo high and the passing precise.
"Brutal," Anton called their display. "The mobility they have, how dangerous they are – that is a huge quality at that age and it is something we need for the future as well. I'm glad we have them with us."
Now Karetsas will have to cope without his perfect partner.
From the club’s perspective, the question is obvious: how do you replace a player who, in one evening, already looked like he upgraded your entire attacking structure?
"I felt incredibly sorry for the lad. From day one here he has had a terrific presence, also in the dressing room. We all already like him very much," said sporting director Ole Book, the man who had pushed so hard to bring Konstantelias to Dortmund. He watched the injury with the expression of someone who knew exactly what was at stake.
Internal solutions – or a late twist in the market?
On Saturday, Kovac turned to Marcel Sabitzer. The Austrian, more defensively minded, cannot replicate Konstantelias’ flair. He offers control, not chaos. Security, not sparks.
In pure positional terms, Samuele Inacio looks the closest like-for-like option in the squad. The 18-year-old has the profile to operate between the lines and bring that same vertical threat. But his cameo against HSV – a lightning red card after coming on – underlined how raw he still is. Throwing him straight into the role of chief creator would be a huge ask.
Maximilian Beier is the more seasoned alternative. He could move inside, but that would force Kovac to abandon his plan to use the Germany international on one of the flanks. Solve one problem, create another. Beier’s spot on the wing would then open up, and the squad would need patching elsewhere.
Time is tight. The summer transfer window closes on Tuesday, 1 September, at 8pm. Officially, Dortmund are calm.
"Depending on how serious the injury actually is, we will shape our further steps accordingly. But one thing is certain: over the next three days we are not planning anything," Ricken said, even before the full extent of the damage became clear.
Plans, though, can change quickly when a key piece of your new-look attack disappears.
The Sancho question
So who could step in at the last moment? One obvious target is gone. Said El Mala, once Dortmund’s preferred choice before the Konstantelias deal, has extended his contract at 1. FC Cologne. That door is closed.
Another name refuses to go away. Jadon Sancho.
On paper, the fit is obvious. Sancho is a similar type of player to Konstantelias: a specialist at creating dynamism from a standing start, at unpicking defences when the game seems to be stuck. Like Konstantelias and Karetsas, he thrives between the lines, comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces and turning pressure into opportunity.
Speculation over a third Sancho spell at BVB had cooled after the arrivals of the two Greeks. Now, with Konstantelias out long term, it will inevitably resurface.
Sancho’s best football came in Dortmund colours. Since his contract at Manchester United expired, the 26-year-old has been without a club and would be available on a free transfer. Financially, the risk is manageable, though he would have to accept a significant pay cut to return.
The sporting question is tougher. Can the former wonderkid still reach anything close to his old level? His recent loans at Chelsea and Aston Villa were largely disappointing. The magic that once made him one of Europe’s most feared young attackers has flickered, not burned.
Dortmund now stand at a crossroads. They have seen, in one electric half, what their future could look like with Konstantelias and Karetsas at the heart of it. They have also been reminded how fragile that future can be.
Do they trust the squad and wait for their new No. 10 to return in 2027? Or do they roll the dice on a familiar face and ask Sancho to light up Signal Iduna Park one more time?
