Antonios Papadopoulos made eight appearances for Borussia Dortmund before deciding to move to FC Lugano in the summer of 2024. The central defender talks to blue Sport about his time in black and yellow.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Before moving to FC Lugano, Antonios Papadopoulos spent three years under contract with Borussia Dortmund.
- The central defender played a total of eight games for the BVB first team.
- The 26-year-old talks to blue Sport about his time in black and yellow and talks about the near-championship in the 2022/23 season.
- The time in Dortmund was "incredibly important" for him, says Papadopoulos. Among other things, the defender played there with footballing greats such as Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham.
- He also reveals that in his very first game for Dortmund, a Swiss national team star was on the pitch alongside him in defense.
May 27, 2023, Westfalenstadion, city center-west district, Dortmund. The news from Cologne hits like a bombshell in the 89th minute: Jamal Musiala and FC Bayern Munich snatch the championship from Borussia Dortmund on the final matchday of the Bundesliga shortly before the end.
Thanks to a late goal, Munich triumphed 2-1 away in Cologne, while BVB, who had started the matchday with a two-point lead, fell to Mainz, drawing 2-2 at home.
The atmosphere in Dortmund's stadium was eerie after the final whistle. For eight minutes, the overwhelming majority of the 81,365 spectators thought they were finally German champions again. Once again, the title ultimately goes to Munich.
"It was unbelievable when we didn't become champions. It's a feeling you can't even describe," Antonios Papadopoulos told blue Sport. The Lugano defender, under contract in Dortmund from 2021 to 2024, experienced that 34th matchday first-hand.
Although the match against Mainz was not one of his eight appearances for BVB's first team, the central defender was of course thrilled with the Black & Yellows at the time. "I still get goosebumps today. A whole world collapsed. It felt like nobody spoke for an hour after the final whistle in the stadium."
Learning from Akanji, Haaland, Hummels and co.
And even if the 2023 championship title is not on the cards, Papadopoulos will take a lot from his three years at BVB. "It was an incredibly important time. I learned so, so much from great players. We had Haaland, we had Bellingham. We had central defenders who helped me."
One of them: Nati star Manuel Akanji. "He played alongside me in my first competitive game," recalls the 26-year-old. But he also learned a lot from Mats Hummels. "My time there was very important for me. I'm trying to put that into practice now."
However, Nico Schlotterbeck is the most important BVB figure in the Lugano defender's career. "We played for the same club when we were four years old. We are best friends. Last year I became his best man. The fact that we played in the Champions League together is something incredibly beautiful and makes me very proud."
Find out what else Papadopoulos has to say about his childhood friend, his time in Dortmund and the great support of his family in the video above.
