Wantaway Gundogan Posted Missing as Dortmund Settle for Point vs. Hoffenheim

In the end, Borussia Dortmund were forced to settle for a point against Hoffenheim on Saturday afternoon. Jurgen Klopp's side spent the best part of 90 minutes battling with an equally driven side in the race for a Europa League spot, with the game eventually finishing 1-1. 

Markus Gisdol's men started the afternoon one point and one spot above the Black and Yellows and certainly offered more in terms of chances on goal, yet in the end, it was a match in which both teams will be happy with a point rather than the risk of losing all three to the other team. 

Klopp's side certainly didn't look as fresh as they have done in recent weeks, and although a point on the road should be savoured for any Dortmund fan, considering the campaign they've had, there were a few key players who simply didn't turn up on the day. 

As we've seen from this team for much of this season, a victory and another two points on the board were within reach if only they had played to their potential. 

The opening goal came in the 33rd minute, when Kevin Volland received a pass on the left side of Dortmund's box. He calmly rolled the ball past Marcel Schmelzer before curling a wonderful shot past Mitch Langerak in goals. 

The manner in which the left-back so nonchalantly drifted out of Volland's way for the goal offered a perfect example of just how far Dortmund looked from the determined performance we had seen against Bayern just a few days before. 

Fortunately, Klopp's side were able to pull one back almost immediately. Mats Hummels broke through with a headed goal from the corner, just two minutes after the strike from Hoffenheim. Yet it was the home side who continued to pester the Dortmund goal until half-time. 

The two teams went into the break on equal terms, but it was Dortmund who were undoubtedly feeling rather fortunate to not be behind. 

What followed in the second half was a scrummage between both midfields that resulted in a far more entertaining 45 minutes of box-to-box football. Both sides really opened up and allowed the other to attack with pace and numbers.

The front three of Roberto Firmino, Volland and Anthony Modeste offered plenty of trouble for the Dortmund back line, while the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Shinji Kagawa and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang broke time after time again. 

Yet there was a very clear reason why both front lines were able to attack with the time and space rarely afforded in such a game: There was no midfield presence for either side. 

Reasoning behind such a scenario was clear from a Hoffenheim point of view, with Gisdol sticking Pirmin Schwegler and Eugen Polanski in the middle of the park to ensure nothing got through. Neither of these players were pulling strings in the centre circle, yet nor were their opposite numbers in the Dortmund side. 

This of course was down to Sebastian Kehl and Ilkay Gundogan in the centre of the Dortmund midfield, who both struggled to stamp any real influence on the game at all. 

Michael Probst/Associated Press

The former's performance will of course come as little surprise to any regular fan of Klopp's side. The 35-year-old stop-gap has always offered his all for the club but has been distinctly slow throughout his limited appearances in the side this season. 

No, any frustration felt from the Black and Yellow support will be firmly placed on the shoulders of Gundogan, who once again drifted through another game as a shadow of the player he once. 

Whether turning his head to address the relentless rumours linking him with moves away to Manchester United or Bayern Munich—as reported by ESPN on May 2—or indeed still injured, Gundogan hasn't merited a spot in this Dortmund starting XI in quite some time. 

Klopp obviously knows his players better than anyone and will hardly be in the mood to reshuffle the pack as he nears the final stretch of his management of the team, but you do wonder what the likes of Matthias Ginter and Milos Jojic have to do to get a start or even a shot at impressing in this squad. 

In the end, a point will keep Dortmund in the chase for European football as we go into the final few weeks of the Bundesliga campaign, yet games like this already offer a taste of what's to come for the former German champions in the months to come. 

Dortmund have dragged themselves back from the brink of crisis into a healthy spot in the league, yet little if any of that has been down to Gundogan—almost ironically the most sought-after player at the club as we approach the summer transfer window. 

@Sbienkowski