Items of great rarity are usually of huge value and admired by those with an appreciation. A four-leaf clover, the birth of a rainbow or a Golden Tiger, few people ever get to witness such marvels. On matchday 29 of the Bundesliga we were treated to our own rarity- a Marcel Schmelzer goal.
With Borussia Dortmund 3-1 up and cruising against Paderborn on Sunday, club veteran Marcel Schmelzer was introduced as a substitute for the final ten minutes at the Benteler-Arena. Five minutes later the former BVB captain set-up Achraf Hakimi for the visitors fourth goal. His afternoon then took an even bigger upturn with a goal for himself in the 89th minute. Axel Witsel’s ball in from the right found left back ‘Schmelle’, who stroked the ball home like he was a centre forward.
A rare occurrence indeed as you have to go all the way back to September 2013 for his last Bundesliga goal (he only has three to his name in over 250 games). Back then the Schwarzgelben earned a point against 1.FC Nürnberg in a 1-1 draw thanks to Schmelzer’s free kick. The match however was to be cut short as the goal scorer was forced off injured at half-time.
Not exactly prolific with 2,444 days falling between his second and third goal for the club. His first for the club had come against Köln in 2011.
Where are they now?
A lot has changed at the Ruhr club as a glance at the team sheet from September 2013 indicates. Of the matchday squad that afternoon, only Marco Reus is still at the club.
The back four which he was part of consisted of Sokratis (now Arsenal), Neven Subotic (Union Berlin) and right back Erik Durm (Eintracht Frankfurt). Keeper Roman Weidenfeller retired in 2018
Sven Bender (Bayer Leverkusen) and Kevin Großkreutz (KFC Uerdingen) anchored the midfield with Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski (Wisla Krakow) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) ahead of them. The surprise central striker was a young Marvin Duksch (now Hannover).
The subs bench consisted of keeper Mitchell Langerak (Nagoya Grampus), Koray Günter (?!) (Verona loan), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Roma loan), Nuri Sahin (Werder Bremen), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), and Julian Schieber (Augsburg). The coach of course was the legend that is Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool).
Schmelzer’s current contract runs out next summer, but with game time severely limited, it is unclear what his plans are for the immediate future. Whatever happens, it seems safe to say we won’t be seeing another Schmelle goal anytime soon!
