Borussia Dortmund named Felix Nmecha in their starting XI for the final Bundesliga game of the 2025-26 season against Werder Bremen, putting the midfielder back in from the opening whistle for the first time since March.
Nmecha had missed the previous months with a torn ligament and only returned to the matchday squad last weekend against Eintracht Frankfurt, where he played 16 minutes. His start against Bremen came after Marcel Sabitzer dropped out of the lineup, a sign that Dortmund were willing to lean on him again as the season closed.
For Nmecha, the timing mattered because his last start had come on 21 March in a 3-2 win over Hamburg. That gap told the story of a long layoff, and Dortmund’s decision to restore him to the team sheet at the end of the campaign gave the match immediate weight beyond the standings title attached to it.
The broader team sheet carried its own late-season meaning. Samuele Inacio made his sixth appearance in a row after scoring against the Eagles for his first goal in Dortmund colors, while Julian Brandt was on the bench for what was described as his swansong. Niklas Sule was also among the substitutes and was set to retire from professional football, having been called on in the closing stages of the Frankfurt game to play in front of the home crowd for one last time. Karim Adeyemi remained on the bench again after returning to the squad on the last matchday.
That mix of returns, farewells and one more chance for young players leaves Dortmund’s final night of the season as more than a routine fixture. Nmecha’s inclusion points to a player who is back in the frame just as the campaign ends, while Brandt and Sule sit on the edge of the next chapter, with Adeyemi only beginning to rejoin the picture. The lineup against Werder Bremen showed a club closing one season while already sorting the handoff to the next.
