Everyone Knows Arjen Robben Is Going to Cut Left. So Why Can’t Anyone Stop Him?

DORTMUND, Germany — All told, Marcel Schmelzer must have spent hours scouring the video, searching for some sort of tell, some kind of clue.

Schmelzer, Borussia Dortmund’s long-serving left back, has performed the ritual 16 times over the last decade, building up an unparalleled expertise in the field. He has pored over countless clips. He was hoping to find something, anything that would give him a little advance warning, a bit of a head start.

“I tried to find a pattern,” he said. Thus far, though, he has drawn a blank. Even after all these years, even after all those hours of study, even after all those games, the defender who knows Arjen Robben better than anyone else still cannot work…