BVB in the Champions League : Jadon Sancho, and the instinct of narrow streets

In all its glory it is to be seen last Saturday: the fine instinct of Jadon Sancho. With small, quick steps, Borussia Dortmund wing player runs across the hope Heimer penalty area. He takes the Ball with the outside of his right boot, as it would have occurred to him only afterwards. Actually, he is going almost too far. The angle is too pointed and the space too tight. But he finds the gap and pushes the Ball gently into the far corner. Goal.

Jadon Sancho does not need a lot of space. It would be too cliché to characterize him as a street footballer, but the fact is: Jadon Sancho grew up in the narrow streets of a crowded city called London. Who here is big, must be fast. He must be smart, both on and off the court. Because London is a ruthless city, and you can quickly fall into bad company. Sancho has said himself several times that He does not know what would have happened to the football from him.

"I never forget where I come from"

"I'll never forget where I come from," said the 18-Year-old in an Interview with British journalists last week. "It is not nice to be in such a place to grow up, especially when the people around you bad things."

Now he returns as the small Star back in the narrow streets of his native city. This Wednesday, the BVB at Wembley stadium in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals to Tottenham Hotspur (21 hrs/Dazn). Especially in Dortmund, Sancho, will be in the spotlight. Especially since BVB-captain Marco Reus will be missing because of a slight muscle fiber tear in the thigh and also Paco Alcacer, Lukasz Piszczek and Julian Weigl fail.

Sancho's glorious homecoming was on Tuesday afternoon, however, almost to the Schengen area-border failed. The plane of the BVB took off with a delay of Dortmund, because Sancho and his French team-mate Abdou Diallo had forgotten their passports. Fortunately for the Dortmund Sancho but managed to still be on Board. Without him, the already difficult trip to London would only become even more difficult.

a half years Ago, Sancho came to Dortmund. In spite of his Talent, his prospects were with his former employers, Manchester City and gloomy. In Dortmund, he saw a better chance of periods of use and game to collect practice. After a year of acclimatization Sancho plays in this season is outstanding. In all competitions, the Englishman has scored eight goals and 13 templates. Not only against Hoffenheim, but also in many other Games he has enchanted the Dortmund audience with his fine technique and his playful chutzpah.

From South London, in the Northern suburb

he runs now in the Wembley stadium, is for Sancho to something really Special. There, he is driven back again and again over, when he drove as a youth player in the FC Watford the long way from South London to the training ground in the Northern suburb. In the case of Watford, Sancho, always wore a Black-and-Yellow, and many predicted him a great career. However, very few would have guessed that he would go to his first steps in professional football in Dortmund.

five or six years Ago there were still very few British players abroad. Today, however, Sancho is the torch-bearer of a young English Generation looking for especially in Germany, to game practice. His long-time friend Reiss Nelson blooms currently in Hoffenheim. In the last transfer window Matondo (Schalke), Emile Smith-Rowe (Leipzig) and Reece Oxford (Augsburg) came with a Rabbi, three young Brits in the Bundesliga. Also the FC Bayern wants to commit to the 18-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea. Sancho was not the first player who followed this Trend Oxford, and Oliver Burke were already in front of him at the German club. But he is by far the most successful.

"I believe that young British players to go abroad now, because they see my success, but it's not easy," said Sancho. "Everyone has his own way. I can't speak for other players.“

in fact, it was for other more difficult. Burke left Leipzig after a year. And Kaylen Hinds it was no longer in Wolfsburg, so bad that he returned last summer for Training. Also Nelson, has scored six goals for Hoffenheim, is not about the Joker role. Sancho, however, has managed to become a regular player.

ready to learn and adaptable

This also has to do with his amazing willingness to learn and ability to adapt. To the rear round kick-off in Leipzig, Sancho revealed that he only Shine in the Offensive, but also selfless in midfield can plow. His positional play, he has adapted to German football is also better than many of his young country men.

Champions League, The Bundesliga side are for the last Time, eye-to-eye

In Dortmund, Holden Sancho is slowly but surely becoming a more complete football player. Also, the evidence of its fundamental qualities, his fine instinct. His career, he has so far proved to be very smart, his rise was accordingly rapid. So Jadon Sancho is: a child of the narrow streets of an unforgiving city.