The victory against Leipzig is a relief, but the injury concerns for Borussia Dortmund are not diminishing. In particular, Marcel Sabitzer is a cause for concern for coach Nuri Sahin.
At some point in the middle of the second half, when Borussia Dortmund was pushing hard for the lead against RB Leipzig, there was a question in the room that top teams rarely have to deal with: Would there be enough strength?
Without numerous injured players and with 120 DFB Cup minutes in the legs after playing in VfL Wolfsburg (0:1), BVB started the Saturday evening game, but did not let that bother them. With a well-deserved 2:1, Nuri Sahin’s team achieved the hoped-for, but not by all expected, breakthrough, which nevertheless did not spare the coach from new worries.
Marcel Sabitzer had to leave the pitch in the 67th minute, which meant that U-23 captain Ayman Azhil made his second Bundesliga appearance. Will Sabitzer be Dortmund’s next casualty? “It wouldn’t surprise me if a few more were to come,” said Sahin after the game. “We know Sabi. He’s not a player who shows when something is going wrong. But it was no longer possible, the muscle had completely closed up. We’ll have to wait and see over the next few hours, the next few days.”
Beier and Guirassy ‘at full stretch’
And according to Sahin, Sabitzer was “not the only one who left the game with an injury”. Ramy Bensebaini, Jamie Gittens (both ankle problems) and Felix Nmecha (shoulder problems) were already feeling the effects before kick-off, with the former slipping unluckily in the first half before biting through after a short treatment. In addition, the goal scorers Maximilian Beier and Serhou Guirassy were “at full stretch”. “We’re on our last legs,” said Sahin, who only made three changes.
Of the rest of the matchday squad members – Yannik Lührs (21), Filippo Calixte Mané (19), Niklas Jessen (21), Rodney Elongo-Yombo (23), Jordi Paulina (20) – some are expected to play for the U23s on Sunday, who are hosting SC Verl in the 3rd division. Everyone else is scheduled to recover before the Champions League clash with Sturm Graz on Tuesday.
Sahin hopes “that we can get as many people as possible together for Tuesday. We have to somehow make it into the national team break with this injury misery, take a deep breath and then hopefully attack with a broader squad.” With the win over Leipzig behind them, all of this should be much easier.