Bundesliga
Paco Alcacer: MD27's Man of the Matchday
When your most potent attacking player is absent attending the birth of his first child, you need somebody to step into the breach when top spot in the Bundesliga table is up for grabs. For Borussia Dortmund, that man is Paco Alcacer.
Marco Reus’ late withdrawal from the squad to face Wolfsburg on Saturday might have caused some concern among the home supporters. The German international’s last spell out of the team coincided with draws against Nürnberg and Hoffenheim, and against an improving Wolves outfit this time around, there could have been fears of lightning striking for a third time.
For 90 minutes, those fears looked justified, but then when you have Alcacer in the team, those additional minutes can make the difference. The Spanish hitman yet again chose the most opportune moment to score two of his most important goals of the season, in the twilight hour.
Watch: Alcacer says Dortmund have hunger ahead of Klassiker
For his first, he found the net with a powerful free-kick that was too hot for Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels to handle. His second was a routine finish from a Jadon Sancho assist, just before the final whistle in a period of the game which may soon become known as Paco time. Indeed, Alcacer has plundered 11 in the final quarter of an hour, including five of the nine Dortmund have scored this season in the 90th minute or beyond.
The significance of those goals cannot be under-stated either. After two rounds of matches spent in Bayern Munich’s slipstream that followed months of being at the top of the pile, the Black and Yellows are now back on top spot in the league – just in time for Der Klassiker next weekend.
While Alcacer was winning those three potentially priceless points, the Bavarians were dropping two of their own, a second-half siege of the Freiburg goal yielding no more than a 1-1 draw at the Schwarzwald-Stadion. Niko Kovac’s side struck the post in the third minute of injury time while Alcacer was notching his 15th and 16th goals of the season: it is in such parallel moments that a title race can be decided.
The same is surely also the case for next weekend, when the top two meet at the Allianz Arena in Der Klassiker, part two. The onus has now shifted back onto Bayern, whose supporters will expect and demand a victory on home soil. Dortmund, on the other hand, are now under no such pressure to win. A draw will do them fine as they have their destiny in their own hands in their bid for a first league title since 2012.
If Dortmund’s name does get engraved on the Meisterschale come May, Alcacer will have done more than most to make it so.