By Oliver Trust

BERLIN, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Age seems just a number to Mats Hummels. Turning 36 this year in December, 17 years of professional football seem hardly to have left their marks considering the 2014 world champions performance over the past weeks.

In the PSG arena in Paris, it was rather not his dancing performance when 1997 winner Borussia Dortmund enthusiastically celebrated their progress to the 2024 UEFA Champions League final but his on-pitch performance.

For a reason, the European football governing body UEFA rewarded the defender as "Man of the Match".

Hummels not only scored the 1-0 winner in the Parc des Princes but slipped into the role of his outfit's undisputed leader. The Paris goal was Hummels' only fifth goal in his 64 Champions League appearance. His last goal he scored came over ten years ago.

Spanish giant Real and Bayern are battling it out on Wednesday over the second final participant.

Wearing the prepared T-shirt with the on-print "Yellow Wall - final 2024 London", the silverback joked: "It's time to update the poor number."

Now it's again Wembley, on June 1, after Hummels experienced a 2-1 defeat against Bayern in the 2013 "German final" in Dortmund's shirt.

"Do that once more at Wembley" BVB coach Edin Terzic said harvesting his defender's reply: "I never obeyed orders from my coach like I do now. Let's win the thing; everything else doesn't make sense."

Hummels' current high fly might come at the right time as the five times German champion is running efforts on two stages.

Not having been offered a contract extension from his club yet, he is fighting for a spot in the 2024 Euro squad of German national coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Hummels' upswing comes after difficult years. Last January he turned into a substitute at his club and wasn't selected for the German side after 78 internationals.

Too slow, and out of style, the man pushing his team to new shores, started an additional fitness program and is back in best shape. Having won most of his man-to-man duels, having stopped superstar Kylian Mbappe, might tell the story.

Despite a lackluster domestic season, the Black and Yellows are bathing in bliss having provided one of the best underdog-is-doing-it stories of this season.

One year after having gambled away the German league title in the campaign's last rounds of matches, "from now on the league games and the farewell encounter for Marco Reus are preparation for the final. We have faith since the group stage."

Underdog Borussia made its way to the top outpacing PSG, Milan, and Newcastle followed by PSV and Atletico.

"I will decide about my future after the season. For the moment we only have Wembley in our minds, so do I." Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)