Julian Brandt, Niklas Süle and Salih Özcan honoured before leaving Borussia Dortmund
Before Borussia Dortmund's final home game of 2025/26, Julian Brandt, Niklas Süle and Salih Özcan received an emotional farewell in front of the Yellow Wall.
Brandt, who wore the captain's armband and made his 217th Bundesliga appearance against Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 33, will leave Dortmund in the summer upon the expiry of his contract.
"When you’ve played your last home game, it’s certainly special," the German told Sky following seven years at the club. "You only really realise what you’ve had here over the years once it’s truly gone for good."
In a remarkably candid interview on the Spielmacher podcast, Süle recently announced that Dortmund would be his final club, and that he will retire from professional football at the end of the season.
Arriving from Bayern Munich in 2022, the defensive stalwart made 109 appearances for Die Schwarzgelben before replacing Luca Reggiani in the 88th minute to a standing ovation in the Frankfurt win.
"It was unbelievably nice to see how the fans reacted," Süle told Sky. "My whole family was here. I’m going to enjoy the last few days and try to have a bit of fun with the lads. We’ve now secured second place, which makes us absolutely delighted."
Özcan will also leave the Signal Iduna Park outfit. The Türkiye international has featured 96 times for the Ruhr club.
The trio can look back on their respective BVB careers with great fondness, and in particular at their 2023/24 UEFA Champions League campaign in which Dortmund reached the final, where they lost 2-0 to Real Madrid.
What's more, the 3-2 victory over Frankfurt secured second place, the second time the trio have finished runners-up together. Brandt also finished second in 2019/20 and won the DFB Cup the following season.
