Dortmund's Karetsas Hospitalized After Disturbing Incident

A hush fell over Signal Iduna Park long before the final whistle.

After just 23 minutes of Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 win over Villarreal, young winger Karetsas suddenly dropped to the turf. No duel, no crunching tackle, no obvious trigger. Moments earlier he had been gliding past defenders, slipped off a simple pass – then raised his arm and immediately called for help.

What followed cut straight through the usual noise of a pre-season night. Paramedics sprinted on. Team-mates looked on, stunned. The new signing was eventually carried off on a stretcher, in tears, to warm applause from a crowd that knew this was no ordinary injury break.

"When the doctors didn’t look at his legs at all and were only focused on his upper body, it sent a shiver down my spine," said Dortmund legend Mats Hummels, working as a pundit on Prime Video. "We wouldn’t wish something like that on anyone. They were really horrible images that we had to see there."

Shock and uncertainty

Initial information from the club pointed to circulatory problems. Sporting managing director Lars Ricken confirmed after the match that Karetsas had been taken to hospital.

The 18-year-old will undergo a series of tests "to rule everything out in the end," Ricken explained. "We have to wait and see what the next few days bring." The former Champions League winner did not hide how deeply the incident had hit him. He admitted he had "of course been somewhat shocked. They were circulatory problems out of nowhere. There had been no indication of anything."

Sporting director Ole Book echoed that sense of disbelief.

"I went out with him, but at that moment he was not directly able to speak," Book said. "We obviously hope that it gets better very, very quickly and that it is nothing serious." He stressed again that there had been no warning signs. "It came very suddenly. He sat down and was then taken to hospital for further examinations, where he still is now. That obviously dampens the mood considerably."

At the start of the second half, BVB offered a cautious dose of relief. The club announced that the teenager was "doing well under the circumstances". Head coach Niko Kovac took that message straight into the dressing room at the break.

"I told my players that everything is fine. They are worried as well," Kovac said. The second half kicked off, but the image of the stricken winger lingered.

Injury crisis deepens

For Dortmund, any prolonged absence for Karetsas would be far more than a personal setback. It would be another brutal twist in a summer already scarred by bad luck.

New signing Giannis Konstantelias had barely introduced himself to the Bundesliga before disaster struck. On his very first league appearance against HSV on the opening matchday, he tore his cruciate ligament and now faces a long spell out.

BVB reacted quickly before the transfer window closed, moving to bring in Ethan Nwaneri on loan from Arsenal as a replacement option. On Tuesday night, it was Nwaneri who stepped in, coming on for Karetsas after the incident.

The problems do not stop in attack. Injuries are stacking up at the back as well. For the clash with Villarreal, Kovac had to do without Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can and Filippo Mane, all ruled out and forcing another reshuffle in a defence already under strain.

Ramy Bensebaini remains sidelined by a rib contusion. Even if fit, he would have been unavailable against the Spaniards anyway, still suspended after his second yellow-red card in the 1-4 defeat at Atalanta Bergamo in February.

So Dortmund leave the night with a win on the scoreboard, but a knot in the stomach. The performance offered goals, tempo and some promise. The sight of Karetsas leaving the pitch in tears posed a harsher question: how many more blows can this squad absorb before the season has truly even begun?