The Daily Bee: BVB Holds Friendly With Dynamo Kyiv

Good morning, y’all.

While it’s true that some things in life are bigger than football, and certain world events can make football seem unimportant, that doesn’t mean that football can’t be used as a force for good to help alleviate some of the suffering caused by those events.

Yesterday, Borussia Dortmund held a friendly match at the Westfalenstadion with Dynamo Kyiv to raise money for organizations providing relief to civilian victims of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. The club sold over 35,000 tickets to the event and raised €400,000.

I unfortunately was not available to watch the proceedings, but it sounds like it was quite an impressive event. Mayor of Kyiv Vitaly Klitschko gave a video presentation thanking BVB for its support. The Ukrainian national anthem was sung prior to the game, and BVB even allowed a Dynamo Kyiv academy player to kick the ball off for the opening whistle. Many of the fans in attendance were Ukrainians or Germans with Ukrainian heritage, and the mood was correspondingly emotional.

Although BVB lost the match to Dynamo Kyiv, I don’t think anybody in the stands was too bothered by it.

Manchester United pursuing Manuel Akanji

Man, the transfer rumors are really heating up, aren’t they? Just thinking of some or all of Ramy Bensebaini, Nico Schlotterbeck, Karim Adeyemi, Adam Hlozek, and Hugo Ekitike coming to BVB gets me excited, perhaps against my better judgement, for next season. Sebastian Kehl clearly understands that this squad needs a total overhaul, and if the last few weeks tell us anything, it’s that he’s not going to leave a single stone unturned this summer.

All these new arrivals will necessitate the departure of quite a few BVB players currently on the squad. The Manchester Evening News has reported that Manuel Akanji is one of the center backs on Manchester United’s transfer list. With both Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Sule arriving in Dortmund, and Mats Hummels on a hefty contract that would be difficult to unload, it makes sense that Akanji would be the odd man out to leave Dortmund.

Footy Scran of the Day

For some reason, Footy Scran has been bombarded with an avalanche of currywurst photos over the last few days. Currywurst isn’t my favorite German sausage but I definitely have an appreciation for it, and it’s hard to deny that this sausage at Barnsley in the UK looks very delicious:

For some reason, those pickle slices look particularly delicious. I can just tell by looking at them that they’re nice and crispy.

The Daily Buzz

Do you think that Schlotterbeck and Sule are upgrades over Manuel Akanji?