VfL Wolfsburg will have to do without Sebastiaan Bornauw in the Champions League against RB Salzburg. The Belgian is suffering from an unspecified capsule injury.
His name was not mentioned at the press conference when Florian Kohfeldt talked about personnel. The coach mentioned squad returnees Wout Weghorst and Jerome Roussillon, talked about Luca Waldschmidt, who is still missing (muscular problems), but not about Sebastiaan Bornauw. The Wolfsburg newcomer, who was still in the squad for Saturday’s 2-0 win in Leverkusen, was missing a few minutes later on the turf of the AOK Stadium, where the team had its final training session. The reason: a capsule injury, Bornauw is out.
The Belgian’s absence from Tuesday’s game against RB Salzburg can still be absorbed, but the 22-year-old’s presence would be even more important in the next two league games. Maxence Lacroix was suspended for two games after being sent off in Leverkusen, and Bornauw would be the logical replacement for the Frenchman. However, his involvement in Saturday’s match against FC Augsburg is also in doubt.
Coach Kohfeldt would have to think about a longer absence. Before the Champions League match, he ordered young defender Anselmo Garcia MacNulty into training, a possible indication that VfL will operate with a three-man defence against Salzburg, as they did at the weekend. With Lacroix, John Anthony Brooks and Micky van de Ven, three more centre-backs were on the training pitch, as well as Josuha Guilavogui, who played in the centre of defence in Leverkusen. The Dutchman Van de Ven could then make his league debut against Augsburg – if Bornauw is not fit in time.
