You have to go back to Friday December 20, 2019, when Borussia Dortmund travelled to Sinsheim to take on Hoffenheim for the last time Mario Götze and Julian Weigl appeared on the same pitch together in the Bundesliga. Then, they were teammates, but Saturday they meet as opponents as their new clubs go head-to-head.
Borussia Mönchengladbach host Eintracht Frankfurt in the big match on Saturday with Mario Götze in their forward line (219 appearances for BVB) coming up against Julian Weigl in the Adler’s midfield (171 appearances for BVB). The one-time friends at the Signal Iduna Park will temporarily be foes at the Borussia Park.
27-year-old Weigl, a DFB Pokal winner with Dortmund, left the club in the January 2020 transfer window joining Portuguese side Benfica for €20 million. Götze remained until the October of 2020 before joining Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on a free transfer. They did play against each other in an August 2021 Champions League qualifier with Benfica coming out on top.
They both returned to Germany this season having enjoyed their spell overseas, but keen to get back to the Bundesliga. It had been reported that after signing Götze in the summer, Frankfurt were also keen on bringing in Weigl only for Gladbach to beat them to the punch.
Whether the Foals will beat them again this weekend might rest in some part on the performances of the two ex-Dortmund stars.
