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Michy Batshuayi wasted no time in introducing himself to his new fans at Borussia Dortmund, grabbing a debut brace (and an assist!) in BVB’s 3-2 win over 1.FC Köln on Friday night.
It took just 35 minutes for Michy to open his Bundesliga account, finishing off an excellent run and cross from Jeremy Toljan. Granted, Köln’s defenders were half asleep, but a goal’s a goal and Michy’s finish was unerring as we know it to be.
Batshuayi added a second in the second-half to put BVB ahead for the second time — great work by him and Christian Pulisic to battle for the first and second balls on a long goal-kick and create something from nothing...
...then collected the assist on the winner for another former Chelsea fan-favorite, André Schürrle, who perhaps not coincidentally had his consensus best game of the season. Batshuayi linked up well with both Schürrle and Pulisic throughout the match (less so with Dahoud), especially considering that he only had a couple days to train with his new teammates.
Of course, the usual caveats apply. It was just one game and we already knew that Michy’s a good finisher. It was also “just” 1.FC Köln, the worst team in the league by any measure. But we couldn’t have asked for more from Batshuayi in his first game, and if he keeps this up, we will certainly be revisiting the situation in the summer, from multiple different angles.
Batshuayi’s loan, as it stands, is only for the second-half of the season, without any additional clauses.
It’s a straight loan by the way. Dortmund have no option to buy him. Chelsea didn’t want to take that risk.
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) February 2, 2018
And while Conte clearly didn’t rate him nor could fit him into his idea of what a center forward should do, Conte’s Chelsea future is far less assured than Michy’s at the moment.
Football = style of play, confidence, match with a manager. Antonio Conte and Batsman never had that match. It happens. Plus Conte had doubts about his tactical awareness.
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) February 3, 2018
Meanwhile, Batshuayi is already making friends in addition to scoring goals, bantering with the fans on Twitter and dropping lines like “I love Borussia Dortmund. Black and yellow are my favorite colors because I love Batman and SpongeBob”.
LOL.
Never change, Michy. You are the hero we need and deserve (in the future).
"Ich bin sehr, sehr glücklich bei Borussia Dortmund zu sein! In den zwei Tagen habe ich versucht, mich aufs Spiel heute zu fokussieren. Es war schon gut, aber ich will mich immer weiter verbessern!" #Batshuayi #KOEBVB 2-3 pic.twitter.com/XIDUuRbpNq
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) February 2, 2018
Wow mein deutsch ist very good already ♂️ https://t.co/xa9mXVeaUs
— Michy Batshuayi (@mbatshuayi) February 2, 2018
He deadass speaks more German after 2 days than Aubameyang did after 4 years though ngl
— Ꮇ.¹¹ (@ReusSZN) February 2, 2018
Do u realize its just a translation bro ? I don’t even know what that means
— Michy Batshuayi (@mbatshuayi) February 2, 2018