Surprise during Kagawa’s visit to the team hotel

Ahead of the match between his former and current clubs, Kagawa spoke with managing directors Carsten Cramer and Lars Ricken, among others. Roman Weidenfeller was also at the table. The two had played together for Borussia Dortmund and won two German championships and two DFB Cup titles together. Joo-Ho Park, who played for BVB from 2015 to 2017 and is now active with the BVB Legends, also joined the group.

"You've been part of professional soccer for 20 years, and we want to honor that," said Cramer as he presented Kagawa with a trophy commemorating his now 20-year professional career—along with an invitation to represent BVB as an ambassador in the future.