CL hero and off to Nagelsmann?
The fairytale rise of Janis Blaswich
November 8th, 2023, 7:12 p.m
Gladbach-trained goalkeeper Janis Blaswich has to wait a long time for his breakthrough in Germany. At the age of 32, he could soon be nominated for the national team. In the Champions League he made RB Leipzig’s place in the round of 16 early.
Marco Rose got to the point with his characteristic nonchalance. “He also catches a lot of balls,” said Leipzig’s coach. The sentence, which could be classified as praise, was aimed at his goalkeeper Janis Blaswich and marked the end of a completely positive report on a completely rainy night in Belgrade. A good hour earlier, RB had moved into the round of 16 of the Champions League early with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Red Star – mainly thanks to the saves of Blaswich, who comes from Willich on the Lower Rhine.
When Belgrade pressed with all its might on the Leipzig goal, the 32-year-old’s reflexes were there. A quarter of an hour before the end, he saved twice against strikers who appeared completely free in front of him, and the final save came in stoppage time. “Janis radiates calm and clarity and doesn’t allow herself to be bothered in any way,” said Rose. “He holds what he has to hold and sometimes one or two balls that he can hold. Of course it helps you to have that kind of support.”
Gulácsi is seriously injured, Blaswich delivers
Blaswich has had an almost fairytale rise. With the experience of almost 300 appearances in the Regionalliga, 3rd League and the Dutch Honor Division, he came to Leipzig in the summer of last year. There was no prospect of playing for Blaswich, who trained at Borussia Mönchengladbach. The keeper was brought in as a loyal and easy-care number two behind Hungary’s national goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi. When the captain tore his cruciate ligament almost exactly 13 months ago, Blaswich suddenly found itself in the spotlight.
He immediately smothered the reflexive unrest in the Leipzig executive suite with above-average performance. His reflexes were immediately at premier class level; he is always precise with his feet and calm even under pressure. Blaswich has now also taken a step forward in terms of controlling the penalty area and dares to get out of the goal more often. In Leipzig – and possibly elsewhere – they are already wondering why Blaswich isn’t even nominated for the national team – as number three behind Marc-André ter Stegen and Manuel Neuer.
Against the youth madness at RB
Blaswich himself moderates such mind games without addressing them. The Rhinelander is not a loudspeaker, at least to the outside world. “He’s a completely calm guy, but he always wants to win and is very performance-oriented. He fits well into the dressing room and has a good standing there,” said Rose. His goalkeeper sometimes gets a little louder there. At the beginning of September, Blaswich’s services were rewarded with a new contract until 2026. “The club has big plans for the next few years and I am extremely proud to be an important part of them in the long term,” said Blaswich. This means that he won’t be moving back into the second row any time soon.
Blaswich’s stay was an unusual step for the cup winner, who had actually fallen victim to youth madness. In several ways. Gulacsi, who has now recovered, is bound until 2025 and the exceptional Belgian talent Maarten Vandervoordt is coming next summer. The 21-year-old comes with the expectation of becoming number one in the medium term.
Leipzig will have what is often referred to as a luxury problem in the summer. From today’s perspective, the solution seems to be that Gulacsi will probably leave the club. Maybe already in winter, because Rose has no reason to change in goal. And Vandervoort could stay with his boyhood club Genk for another season. It would be a sign of recognition that Blaswich has earned.