FEATURE | Jamie Gittens: Why Borussia Dortmund’s English star is the key to beating Lille | OneFootball

There’s no use in sugarcoating it: it has been a nightmare season for Borussia Dortmund. One year after reaching the UEFA Champions League Final, BVB have hit rock bottom. They sit 10th in the Bundesliga table, four points away from the European positions, they have lost 10 of their 25 league matches, and they find themselves in danger of missing out on European football for the first time in 16 years. The decision to change coaches in the summer and replace Edin Terzić with Nuri Şahin failed to pay dividends, with Dortmund descending to mid-table mediocrity and exiting the DFB Pokal in October at the hands of Wolfsburg.

Croatian manager Niko Kovač took charge at the start of February and suffered back-to-back defeats to Stuttgart and Bochum in the league while also taking care of business against Sporting in the UEFA Champions League, before thrashing Union Berlin 6-0 and kicking off March with a 2-0 win at St. Pauli. BVB looked headed for a third straight victory after Karim Adeyemi’s early goal, only for Hákon Arnar Haraldsson to level proceedings for Lille in the 68th minute to secure a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Round of 16.

BVB’s misery continued on Saturday as Jeffrey Gouweleeuw broke the deadlock early on in Dortmund and spearheaded Augsburg to a 1-0 victory at the Signal Iduna Park. It was the first time since April 6, 2024 that Dortmund were held scoreless in a home Bundesliga fixture, and it was also the first time since April 30, 1988 that Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich all lost on the same matchday to bottom-half teams. But while Bayern and Leverkusen are all but guaranteed to finish in the top two, Die Schwarzgelben find themselves seven points away from the coveted Champions League positions with nine matches left and are at risk of missing out on Europe’s premier competition for the first time in a decade. Facing ample competition from the likes of Mainz, Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg for the top four places, Dortmund’s best chance of qualifying might just be by winning the Champions League, as crazy as it may sound. But if they are to lift the title in Munich and end a 29-year wait for ‘Die Tasse mit den großen Ohren’, they’ll first need to win at Lille on Wednesday. And in order to do so, they’ll need a big performance from Jamie Gittens.

Born in Reading, England to Barbadian parents, Gittens bounced around from Reading to Chelsea to Manchester City before deciding to join Borussia Dortmund in 2020. Far from a seamless transition, Gittens’ first two years in Germany would force him to cope with a global pandemic as well as a torn ankle ligament. However, things started to turn around for him in 2021/22 as he scored six goals in five UEFA Youth League appearances, prompting the attention of then manager Marco Rose who gave him his first-team debut on April 16, 2022. Having made just four appearances under Rose, Gittens became a regular contributor in 2022/23 under Terzić – despite being hindered by two separate shoulder injuries, he was able to chip in three goals and one assist in 20 appearances as BVB coughed up the chance to win the Bundesliga title after a jaw-dropping collapse on the final day, before providing two goals and five assists in 34 appearances in 2023/24.

Gittens thrived on the left flank of attack, cutting onto his preferred right foot and catching the goalkeeper by surprise with his powerful striking. Moreover, thanks to his ambipedal ability, he also proved capable of using either foot to go inside or outside his marker and run at them with his dynamic changes in movement and blistering speed. His agility, low center of gravity and technical finesse enabled him to keep the ball glued to his feet whilst bamboozling defenders with his flamboyant dribbling skills. It meant that, even if he wasn’t finding the back of the net for fun, he was still running his fullback ragged and freeing up space for his attacking teammates.

Having previously used “Bynoe–Gittens” as his surname on the back of his kit, the 20-year-old winger decided to drop the “Bynoe” before the 2024/25 campaign began. At first, it seemed as though that mere name change gave him magical powers. Gittens found himself on the bench for BVB’s season opener, before replacing Adeyemi at the hour-mark and registering a brace in a 2-0 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt. One month later, he would repeat that same exact feat in their Champions League opener, replacing Marcel Sabitzer with the score level and bagging a quickfire brace in a 3-0 win at Club Brugge. Gittens would continue his remarkable rise for Die Borussen over the next few months, scoring against Real Madrid and assisting Serhou Guirassy’s late winner vs. St. Pauli.

He returned from the November international break by scoring in four straight matches vs. Freiburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach, whilst he also returned from the winter break without a hitch by finding the back of the net in BVB’s first two matches of 2025 vs. Leverkusen and Holstein Kiel. It seemed that Gittens was on his way to becoming the latest Englishman to reach superstar status in the Bundesliga after Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. It seemed that Dortmund had found their next posterboy to take European football by storm and earn a lucrative transfer to one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Since that 4-2 defeat in Kiel on January 14, Gittens has failed to provide a goal or an assist in his last 13 matches for Dortmund. But even if he can’t rediscover his shooting boots in time for Wednesday’s second leg in France, there’s every reason to believe that he can make himself a nuisance for ex-BVB right back Thomas Meunier. Gittens is responsible for bringing Dortmund up the pitch, launching counter-attacks, and improvising with a superb bit of skill when Plan A isn’t yielding results. Like a wet bar of soap that wriggles out of your hands just as you’re about to grasp it in the shower, he’s a slippery ball-carrier who is capable of sensing danger just as it’s about to arrive and evade the pressure with a dexterous shoulder drop or turn. He can bring things to a halt, freeze his opponent, before stepping on the gas and propelling himself towards the touchline, but he also has the decision-making and vision to set up his teammates with the perfect pass. Gittens has registered 2.9 successful dribbles per 90 in the Bundesliga this season, well ahead of second-place Adeyemi (1.8), completing 53% of them. This pattern continues in the Champions League, with Gittens sitting atop the roster with 2.3 dribbles per 90.

He attacks his opposing fullbacks with zero mercy whatsoever, capable of stopping on a dime or taking a purposefully heavy touch before blowing past them with a powerful burst into empty space. Similarly to ex-BVB winger Ousmane Dembélé, it’s sometimes hard to ascertain if he’s stronger on his right or left, such is his confidence and accuracy with both feet whether it’s playing a deft reverse pass or whipping in a cross into the box or firing in a bending effort into the top corner. He’s not just a stellar dribbler, but he’s also a facilitator who can break the lines with an effective pass in behind, sitting third in their squad for Expected Assists in both the league as well as European play.

While Gittens has struggled to provide BVB with a secondary goal-scoring threat outside of Serhou Guirassy in recent months, he’s nevertheless continued his progression and remained a creative winger who is capable of utilizing small, calculated touches and his bags of trickery to turn his man inside out, and who has the cunning positioning to drift into the half-spaces and get a shot off, ranking third in their squad for shots per game (1.8) in the Bundesliga as well as second for shots on target per game (0.8). His speed of thought, unpredictable nature, and comfort in tight spaces make him a nightmare to mark, and it should bode well for him in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.

“Some of the greatest players in history never had the chance to play at a FIFA World Cup because their national teams were not strong enough,” stated FIFA Director Member Associations Africa Gelson Fernandes. “However, the FIFA Club World Cup will offer players in a similar situation another opportunity to experience playing on the biggest stage of all and feel what it is like to represent your club at such an illustrious tournament.”

Gittens has the chance to solidify his status as one of the top young talents in Europe in this summer’s Club World Cup, but before that, he’ll be looking to lead Borussia Dortmund past Lille and into the Champions League quarter-finals.

GGFN | Zach Lowy