Grimaldo taking up leadership role at Leverkusen
Kasper Hjulmand believes Alejandro Grimaldo is thriving in a leadership role at Bayer Leverkusen.
Grimaldo has been superb in 2025-2026, and has already tallied up 13 goal involvements in all competitions, scoring eight times and supplying five assists.
The versatile wide player has already created 41 chances, 17 more than any of his team-mates – Aleix Garcia ranks second, with 24.
Leverkusen sits third in the Bundesliga heading into a clash with Borussia Dortmund, which is just a point behind in fourth.
Hjulmand had specific praise for Grimaldo ahead of Sunday's (AEDT) meeting with Dortmund.
"He's very important for the team's flexibility," Hjulmand, whose side beat Manchester City 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, said.
"We give him a lot of freedom and he uses it to find the right spaces and give the team structure.
"Whether on the wing, in midfield or as a [number] ten, he is a top player and also has a very professional attitude, and he takes responsibility as a leader."
After hosting Dortmund in the league, Leverkusen then visits Signal Iduna Park in the DFB-Pokal three days later.
"They are a top team, as they showed again this week in the Champions League against Villarreal," Hjulmand said of Dortmund.
"They are very structured and bring a high level of intensity.
"We want to put in another good performance, play our game, take the next step and get better and better."
Dortmund, which was pegged back to a 3-3 draw by Stuttgart in its most recent league outing, has collected 11 points from its first six away matches of the current Bundesliga season – its best return at this stage since 2020-2021, when it had thirteen points.
It has also kept three clean sheets on the road this term, the joint-most it has managed at this stage alongside 2018-2019, when it also kept three.
