Mats Hummels would have deserved a better farewell

In the 89th minute on Sunday evening, Mats Hummels made himself ready for substitution on the sidelines of the small Olympic stadium, in which FC Turin plays its home games. Hummels Club, AS Rome, played the last game of the season in the capital of the Piemont, and coach Claudio Ranieri wanted to secure the 2-0 lead with him and three other substitutes to keep fifth place in the championship. Competitor Juventus Turin led in the parallel game and had reached the Champions League.

It was a routine process, everyday, lackluster, unspectacular. Hummels played the last three minutes of his career almost to the exclusion of the (German) public. After the final whistle, the teammates celebrated him by pushing him up several times. Every teammate knew that there was a big one. Hummels gave a last TV interview as a professional and visibly moved: “I don’t know exactly how to feel. I am happy, sad, full of emotions.” And: “I am glad that we still made it into the Europa League – even if we are just barely scratched past the Champions League.”

It was a very quiet farewell after an outstanding career – and everything other than appropriate. Hummels stood on the soccer field for 18 years. He once formed the best central defender duo in the world with national team colleague Jérôme Boateng and had a significant part in the 2014 World Cup triumph. Hummels belonged to the big team under Jürgen Klopp, won five German championship and three cup victory, only the Champions League won, although he had reached the final with Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and 2024.

The farewell also seemed so bleak because it went very differently in the case of Thomas Müller, which was one year younger. Müller’s farewell was celebrated by the media and fans for weeks. In the last home game, coach Vincent Kompany called him to the starting eleven (it was about nothing more), the followers celebrated him with a standing ovation, the club icon gave an emotional speech, and a lot of confetti was shot. Müller also gets a brief encore: the 35-year-old will appear for FC Bayern at the club World Cup in the USA. For this he received a new mini contract for a month. FC Bayern knows how to pass club heroes.

Certainly Müller had the advantage that he remained true to FC Bayern throughout his life. The 34th win of the German championship contributed significantly to the exuberant mood – and strictly speaking, the end of the career is open. It is quite possible that Müller is still on a professional year in the USA.

With this we come to the inglorious role of Hummel’s heart club Borussia Dortmund. Hummels played 13 of his 18 years of professional. After a three -year interruption at FC Bayern, he returned to Dortmund in 2019 and did not always convince, but especially in his last season he played up again. He had a significant part in the fact that the team reached the final in the premier class last year.

But in contrast to Müller, Hummels sometimes cited with his self -confident manner. In an interview in spring 2024, he criticized coach Edin Terzic for his tactical orientation – that was not well received. The relationship between Hummels and the club management visibly cooled. The contract extension by one year as with Müller in Munich was off the table a year earlier, also for sporting reasons. In the last home game, Hummels was presented with a bouquet of flowers and gave him a damp handshake.

Hummels was never a heart player for the fans, more of one who admired for sharp tackling, exterior passports and ground statements after the game is concluded. Müller gave way to more warm buddy in a certain way. Nevertheless, the way in which Dortmund was handled with a well -deserved player was not okay. Apparently more broken than expected.

Hummel’s statement about the failed contract extension in the ZDF documentary “Hummels-La Finale” shows how much the heartless separation made him: “It should have run differently than for me. Actually, it is more like it was told in a personal conversation. I think I wanted to pay the interview home and put it on the press before it was publicly informed.” It sounded bitter.

In the end, his last year with the Roma was only the continuation of this nasty BVB party. At first he did not get any times. Only when Ranieri became head coach did Hummels play more often. But that was sealed in Rome after having cost his team to progress through a red card in the round of 16 of the Europa League (“greatest mistake in my career”).

Now he has time to take care of his son Ludwig. And hopefully there will be an appropriate appreciation at some point. Where and whatever. Hummels would have deserved it.