Konstantinos Karetsas Collapses During Dortmund's Win Against Villarreal

Konstantinos Karetsas was carried off on a stretcher after a worrying collapse in Borussia Dortmund’s UEFA Champions League clash with Villarreal, casting a shadow over a wild 3-2 win in which Serhou Guirassy struck twice after the break.

The 18-year-old had just released a pass in the first half when he immediately signalled to the bench, raised his arm, and then went down. Medical staff rushed on and treated him for several minutes, working around his upper body as the stadium fell quiet.

He was eventually stretchered from the pitch and taken straight down the tunnel to the locker room, with Ethan Nwaneri coming on in the 27th minute to replace him.

Dortmund later moved to clarify the situation, announcing that the substitution was “due to circulation problems.” The club confirmed Karetsas had been transported to hospital for further examinations and added that he “is doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances.”

There had already been a small hint that Karetsas was not at full tilt. He had skipped full team training on the eve of the game, instead working in the gym. Head coach Niko Kovač played that down in his pre-match press conference, describing it as a normal adjustment, with one or two players sometimes completing individual sessions rather than joining the main group.

Karetsas only arrived at Dortmund in the summer from Genk, part of a Belgian-Greek double move alongside compatriot Giannis Konstantelias. That pairing has already been hit hard: Konstantelias suffered an ACL tear in late August, forcing the Bundesliga side back into the market. Nwaneri’s loan from Arsenal was arranged to help cover that loss; on this night, he was suddenly needed again far sooner than anyone at Dortmund would have liked.

On the pitch, Dortmund eventually dragged the contest their way. A second-half brace from Guirassy powered them to a 3-2 victory over the La Liga club, a result that will look good on paper but will not erase the image of one of their brightest prospects leaving the field flat on a stretcher.

For a team built around emerging talent, the bigger question now is simple and stark: how quickly can Karetsas safely return, and how many more early blows can this new-look Dortmund absorb?