Serhou Guirassy will face his former club Lille in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday as the most lethal weapon Borussia Dortmund has, a decade after struggling to make an impact in northern France.
Now seemingly the finished product, the Guinea international has carried Dortmund’s European campaign on his shoulders, scoring a remarkable 10 goals in as many matches in his debut season in the competition.
Guirassy’s prolific form is a stark contrast to his brief and underwhelming stint at Lille, where he played just nine games and netted once after joining from Laval in 2015.
Loaned to Ligue 2 side Auxerre before moving to Cologne in 2016, his career initially seemed destined for inconsistency as he bounced between clubs in France and Germany.
A string of muscle and knee injuries further hampered his progress, and by 2021, his best league tally stood at just 10 goals in a single campaign for Rennes.
However, everything changed when he joined Stuttgart in 2022. Last season, Guirassy exploded onto the scene with 28 goals in 28 Bundesliga matches, helping Stuttgart defy expectations by finishing second ahead of Bayern Munich.
His clinical finishing and versatility earned him a summer move to Dortmund, where he has continued his exceptional form, scoring 24 times in 32 appearances across all competitions.
Despite his heroics, Dortmund have endured a turbulent campaign.
Last season’s Champions League finalists have struggled domestically and sit 10th in the Bundesliga, 26 points behind leaders Bayern Munich and six points adrift of the top four.
In Europe, they failed to finish in the top eight of the new league phase, ending one point behind Lille and requiring a two-legged play-off against Sporting Lisbon to progress.
Guirassy once again delivered, scoring and providing an assist in a 3-0 win in Portugal to set up a meeting with his former club.
Dortmund have been overly reliant on Guirassy’s goals, but there are signs of a turnaround under new coach Niko Kovac.
The 1997 Champions League winners secured just their second away victory of the Bundesliga season with a 2-0 triumph over St. Pauli on Saturday, marking the first time they have won back-to-back league matches this term.
Kovac, who took charge six games ago, has simplified Dortmund’s approach, with Germany forward Karim Adeyemi among the players benefiting from the shift.
Adeyemi was instrumental against St. Pauli, scoring a stunning solo goal and setting up Guirassy for the second. With Guirassy in the form of his life and Dortmund finding renewed confidence, the striker now has the opportunity to show Lille just how much he has evolved since his brief and forgettable spell in France.
