In the summer, Marwin Hitz moved to FC Basel after four years in Dortmund. In Switzerland, the goalkeeper is the number one – and wants to beat his former club once again.

Goalkeeper Marwin Hitz was under contract with Borussia Dortmund for four years. He never quite made the leap to number one. In the summer, the Swiss then moved to his homeland to FC Basel, which has another former Borussian as coach in Alex Frei. “For me it was time to leave because I still feel very fit and want to play accordingly,” the 34-year-old explained the switch in an interview with Sport Bild. “I had a super time in the Bundesliga with many great experiences. But I needed this new challenge.”

Hitz came to Dortmund from FC Augsburg in the summer of 2018. Initially, however, he only had a place on the bench, with compatriot Roman Bürki mostly given preference. But he then celebrated his Bundesliga debut for BVB in a special setting. “I deputised for Roman Bürki and we won 3:2 at home against Bayern. After that game I knew that my switch was the right move and that I could make it permanently in goal,” Hitz recalled.

My goal was gone and when you don’t have a goal anymore as an athlete, even though you are physically in top form, then you have to leave. I was no longer sure if I could give one hundred per cent for the team and the club in that role.

Marwin Hitz

Hitz recorded a total of 46 appearances in competitive matches for Borussia, the most in the second half of the 2020/21 season when he displaced Bürki to the bench. “I worked towards that for two and a half years, was the regular goalkeeper for half a year in 2021,” Hitz describes. “I was very proud and of course also disappointed when it was clearly signalled to me in the summer of 2021 that I would no longer be number one. “

Goal, “to win against Dortmund at 40”

With Gregor Kobel the new regular in goal had been found, Hitz was once again left with the role of reserve. However, he no longer wanted to or could fill that role. “My goal was gone and when you as an athlete no longer have a goal, even though you are physically in top form, then you have to leave. I was no longer sure whether I could give one hundred per cent for the team and the club in this role,” explains the two-time international. That is now the case again in his role in Basel.

Basel’s start to the season has been a failure, with Hitz playing 90 minutes in every game except the first round of the cup. Mixed feelings, then, for Hitz, who wants to “work his way back up the table and play for the title” with his team. He also has a wish on the international stage: “I told the boys that I have set myself the goal of winning against Dortmund with 40,” Hitz reveals and explains: “Glasgow’s goalkeeper Alan McGregor also managed that last season in the Europa League. “