Ranking Borussia Dortmund's Players on Their Performances at Euro 2016
Most football clubs dread summer international tournaments as harbingers of injury, fatigue and general unpreparedness for domestic duties that follow. And Euro 2016 will have a negative effect on teams like Bayern Munich, whose ranks included many players who reached the latter stages of the knockout rounds.
For Borussia Dortmund, however, the Euros will have had limited effect on their preseason. The 2015-16 Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal runners-up sent just five players to the tournament (Roman Burki, Julian Weigl, Nuri Sahin, Lukasz Piszczek and Mats Hummels).
Two of those—Burki and Weigl—didn't play a single minute. And Hummels wasn't even a Dortmund player by the end of the tournament, having officially become a Bayern man on July 1 following a transfer that had been agreed prior to the opening day of the competition in France.
Following Sunday's final, B/R takes a look at the individual Dortmund players who featured at Euro 2016, ranking them in terms of their performance.
Click "Begin Slideshow" to see our countdown to No. 1.
T-4) Roman Burki
1 of 5
Country: Switzerland (eliminated in round of 16)
Minutes Played: 0
Roman Burki may have had a good debut season at Dortmund, but the goalkeeper played no part in Switzerland's Euro 2016 campaign, at least not on the pitch. He was first backup for another Bundesliga custodian, Borussia Monchengladbach's Yann Sommer.
Sommer was fit and eligible for all four of Switzerland's games at the Euros and conceded just two goals.
Before the Swiss' elimination, the Gladbach man stood alongside Manuel Neuer in the running for the tournament's best goalkeeper. Accordingly, there wasn't room to give Burki a chance to make an impression.
T-4) Julian Weigl
2 of 5
Country: Germany (eliminated in semi-finals)
Minutes Played: 0
Like Burki, Julian Weigl was another example of a player who had a good season at Dortmund only to find himself behind more established names in the international pecking order.
The 20-year-old played well in his senior Germany debut, a 45-minute outing against Slovakia before Euro 2016, but he was benched for the duration of the tournament.
Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira were the established starters for Germany in central midfield, with Bastian Schweinsteiger the first backup.
Even in the semi-final against France, in which Joachim Low opted to use three central midfielders and for which Khedira was injured, the trainer preferred Emre Can as complement to Kroos and Schweinsteiger.
Weigl has plenty of talent, but he'll have to wait a couple more years to show it at a major tournament.
3) Nuri Sahin
3 of 5
Country: Turkey (eliminated in group stage)
Minutes Played: 45
When Nuri Sahin made his debut for the senior Turkey national team in 2005, he looked destined to become a legend for his country.
Then 17 years of age, he wasn't actually ready to make the professional leap. But he was ready to commit to Turkey rather than his native Germany, and Fatih Terim gave him his debut to tie him to the country of his ancestry before sending him back to the youth national teams. A year later, his first competitive match for Turkey ensured his international career would be with them.
Over a decade after making his debut, though, Sahin looks to be an afterthought. Questionable career decisions and crippling injuries have stifled him, and the 27-year-old only played a minor role for Turkey at Euro 2016. His only appearance was against Spain, coming on at half-time with his side 2-0 behind.
2) Lukasz Piszczek
4 of 5
Country: Poland (eliminated in quarter-finals)
Minutes Played: 420
Lukasz Piszczek was one of two Dortmund players to feature at Euro 2016 on a regular basis, and he ranks No. 2 on this list.
The Poland international missed his side's win against Ukraine, but otherwise played every minute of every game for his country: this included 120-minute outings against Switzerland and Portugal.
While stars like Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik struggled during the Euros, Piszczek was consistently excellent and arguably his side's best player after goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. With a little more luck, he could have reached the semi-finals or beyond.
1) Mats Hummels
5 of 5
Country: Germany (eliminated in semi-finals)
Minutes Played: 390
Mats Hummels missed Germany's Euro 2016 opener against Ukraine, but he was fit to start for the rest of the tournament and got better and better with each passing game. Low needed him at his best to keep Poland from scoring in the second group-stage match, and he stepped up to deliver.
Hummels was even better against Slovakia and Italy, and he played his last game of the tournament without Germany conceding a goal during his time on the pitch. It was nearly flawless but for the fact that the towering defender was booked in each knockout-round match, earning a suspension for the semifinal.
Without Hummels on the pitch against France, Germany were a bit weaker at the back as they ultimately slumped to a 2-0 defeat. Had the 27-year-old been eligible to play, perhaps Germany would have made the final.
