One day before the Bundesliga top match against Bayern Munich, anticipation and tension are also rising for coach Marco Rose. The starting position is almost ideal for BVB.
After many weeks and months of injury worries, the coach will be able to call on almost his entire squad for the German classic on Saturday. The injured Jude Bellingham also trained for the first time again on Thursday, but centre-back Manuel Akanji is still questionable ahead of the final training session: “Under certain circumstances, it will be a spot start with him. “
Haaland and the good training week – return to starting eleven hints at
Striker star Erling Haaland, on the other hand, has had a “good week of training” after his lengthy muscle injury, Rose reported. After the Norwegian’s 19-minute comeback including a goal at VfL Wolfsburg, he is likely to be on the pitch for much longer against Bayern, probably even from the start. “We have to be a bit cautious, most likely it will not be enough for 90 minutes,” the coach revealed, but there was and is no need for an agreement: “We have to see how long it goes. “
The unfamiliar options naturally please the coach. “It’s always good to have more players in the squad and more competition. On Saturday morning, we’ll have the opportunity to almost draw from the full squad for once,” said Rose. That means “having to let players down”, but also that he can “add quality” during the game.
“With an absolute top performance” to the top of the table
Against Bayern, currently one point ahead of BVB, that combined with a high degree of tactical flexibility will not be a disadvantage. The duel with the record champions is “always exciting”, says Rose and sets the direction: “We have managed to keep the gap small. Now, in our own stadium and in a direct duel, we want to hurt them.” For that, his team needs “an absolute top performance in all areas”, meaning: “We have to work well against the ball, defend their offensive power and find solutions with the ball. Because we want to score goals. “
Only switching is not enough then either.
In general, the BVB coach has a lot of praise for the industry leader. “They have a clear structure with the ball and develop a scoring threat with a lot of force. They are difficult to tackle “, says Rose and demands: “It’s important to put them under pressure, even if we won’t always succeed. We have to defend the penalty area, because they can come via half-field crosses, via penetrations, one-on-one on the right, or on the left with Davies in the back line.” That’s why his team should “occupy the opponent with the ball, only switching is not enough”. And these phases of possession must be played out consistently, “because when Bayern switch, they are also powerful.
The direct duel in the first half of the season is not the game that “necessarily decides the German championship”, but it is “a game with a signal effect, a prestige duel”, says Rose: “It already feels like that during the week, and tomorrow the tension towards the game will rise again. The fact that only 15,000 spectators are allowed to experience the game in the stadium is “bitter for us”, thinks Rose: “We were all pleased that it has gradually become more, that has done us good.” In the meantime, BVB have won seven home games in a row, for the eighth, the coach says, a full stadium would have been important: “Now it’s not like that. We have to accept the situation as it is. “
BVB’s vaccination campaign under the West Stand
And BVB is doing everything it can to ensure that the overall situation will soon be better again: at the relaunch of the club’s vaccination campaign on Thursday, 1053 people were vaccinated under the West Stand, 70 of them for the first time. On match day, the joint campaign with the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Westfalen-Lippe (KVWL) will take a break; from Sunday, the centre will be open again from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
