If there was one phrase to sum up Borussia Dortmund’s past few years, it would be: “So close, and yet, so far.”

By Zach Lowy

Dortmund entered the final matchday of the 2022/23 season with a golden opportunity to win their first Bundesliga title in 11 years – all they needed to do was beat mid-table Mainz at home. Instead, they drew 2-2, whilst Bayern Munich beat Köln 2-1 to edge them to the championship on goal differential. BVB reached the Champions League Final the following season and were vying for their first European trophy in 27 years after a dominant first-half display in Wembley; instead, Real Madrid scored two second-half goals to claim their 15th European Cup.

This season, however, Dortmund have hit rock bottom. BVB find themselves in danger of missing out on European football for the first time in 16 years, with the club sitting eighth in the Bundesliga table, one point behind Freiburg, three behind Gladbach, four behind Leipzig, and five behind fourth-placed Mainz. With the Bundesliga likely to only be allotted four Champions League spots for 2025/26, and with BVB almost certainly doomed to exit the Champions League at the quarterfinals, Dortmund need to make up a five-point gap in their final six Bundesliga matches in order to qualify for the continent’s premier competition for the 10th straight campaign.

They cannot afford anything less than perfection – they need to win their final six matches and hope that their top-four rivals slip up during the season’s home stretch. BVB will be looking to bounce back from Wednesday’s 4-0 defeat at Barcelona with a victory against Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, who sit six points clear atop the table. And in order to do so, they’ll need a big-time performance from Maximilian Beier.

Born in Brandenburg an der Havel, Beier left home at 13 to develop at Energie Cottbus’ academy before joining Hoffenheim three years later, where he became their youngest-ever Bundesliga debutant in February 2020. Beier spent two seasons on loan at second-tier Hannover 96 before returning to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena for the 2023/24 season, where he enjoyed a breakout year and finished as their top scorer with 16 league goals (none from the penalty spot). This prompted Julian Nagelsmann to hand him his maiden Germany call-up, with Beier making his competitive debut in a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in the Euros. 

Despite having played just one season of consistent minutes in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund decided to sign Beier as their replacement for Niclas Fülkrug, paying €28.5 million (rising to €30m in potential bonuses) and tying him down to a five-year contract. After a slow start to life in North Rhine-Westphalia, Beier finally opened his account on November 2 with a goal and assist vs. Leipzig, before registering a goal vs. Freiburg, a goal and assist vs. Wolfsburg, and a goal and assist vs. Union Berlin in the following months.

A second striker by nature, Beier has spent his first year in Dortmund either coming off the bench or starting in an unnatural wide forward position, but he’s nevertheless managed to capitalise on Donyell Malen’s January move to Aston Villa and emerge as a vital contributor in attack. Only Serhou Guirassy (15) and Jamie Gittens (8) have managed more Bundesliga goals in BVB’s squad than Beier (7), whilst only Guirassy (16) has more goal contributions than Beier (12).

Perhaps the most important goal of his Dortmund tenure came on March 12 in Lille. Tightly guarded by two red shirts, Beier swiveled to receive the ball on his favoured right foot and took a half-second to steady himself before firing a rocket into the top-right corner, securing a comeback win for BVB and booking their ticket to the Champions League quarterfinals. He was kept under wraps in the following match vs. Leipzig, but rather than drop him to the bench, new BVB manager Niko Kovač chose to reposition him from a wide forward to a second striker. Working alongside Karim Adeyemi in a front two, Beier repaid Kovač’s trust by grabbing a brace and subjecting Mainz to their first defeat in two months, before bagging two assists against Freiburg. He then dropped to the bench against Barcelona, only to replace Adeyemi at halftime.

“Beier clearly had a slow start, but considering it’s his first season and how much turmoil the team has been in due to the overall instability of the system and coaching staff, I think he’s done quite well,” stated Brian Szlenk Straub, the co-host of the Dortmund Dispatch podcast. “His finishing was a bit wide of the mark prior to the second half of the season as he missed quite a few chances, but I chalk that up to the instability the team faced as a whole and possibly not being at the peak of his confidence. He finds space very well, which is underlined by the sheer amount of opportunities he had in that first half of the season that simply didn’t pan out. We’re starting to see him settle into this team, and he’ll only continue to get better as his time with Dortmund continues.”

Having previously struggled under Nuri Şahin, Beier has taken his game to another level under Kovač. His nimble footwork and low center of gravity enable him to escape congested situations with the ball glued to his feet, whilst he also boasts the powerful running and tenacity to eat up space in transition and carry the ball across ample swaths of the pitch. No matter where he’s playing, Beier’s positional awareness and quick reactions allow him to time his runs to perfection and exploit gaps in between rival defenders, either creating space for his teammates or fashioning an ideal scoring opportunity for himself where he can then put his superb ball-striking skills to good use.

Beier is far from the finished article at 22 years old, but he’s nevertheless shown an impressive willingness to adapt to multiple positions and put in a shift both on and off the ball. Never one to shirk his defensive responsibilities, Beier has proven adept at rolling up his sleeves and doing the dirty work, be that pressing the opposition’s build-up or tracking back to stop a potential counter.

“At the end of the day, he’s a second striker, and the last few games have shown what he can do in a front two,” added Straub. “That being said, he’s done admirably out wide when he’s featured there – he always shows purpose and intensity when he’s on the pitch and is always willing to run himself into the ground for this side. Kovač has found a system that really allows him to flourish…with Adeyemi up front alongside him, we’ve really gotten to see Beier’s ability to press opponents and be a real danger on the counter.”

Over the past six years, Maximilian Beier has balanced his burgeoning football career with a growing affinity for darts. When he finds himself running high on adrenaline following a match and unable to sleep, he calms down by throwing darts at his board at home. He’s even hung another dartboard on the wall in BVB’s training ground and has gotten many teammates like Giovanni Reyna and Nico Schlotterbeck hooked on this increasingly ubiquitous hobby.

If Dortmund are to come away with a victory in Saturday’s Der Klassiker, they’ll need Beier to hit the bullseye and continue his sensational form in Bavaria.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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