There is nothing less than a groundbreaking game on the agenda for Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday evening: BVB will host PSV Eindhoven in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League. After the 1-1 draw in the Netherlands, nothing has been decided yet. However, Borussia will probably have to worry about losing a regular player in the short term.
BVB broadcast a short video sequence from the final training session before the game against PSV Eindhoven on the short message service “X” on Tuesday and announced that full-back Julian Ryerson could not take part in the session “due to skin inflammation”.
The Dortmund team left it open what exactly is bothering the Norwegian and whether there is a risk of failure. However, the announcement certainly gives cause for concern.
Ryerson is experiencing a season with a few ups and downs. At the beginning of the season, ankle problems forced him to take a break, followed by a long break from mid-December 2023 due to an inner ligament injury. The 26-year-old also missed the important 1-0 win at Newcastle United in the Champions League due to illness.
Recently, however, Ryerson was in the starting lineup six times in a row.
If the Northern European is unavailable, coach Edin Terzic only has limited options. Since Nico Schlotterbeck is suspended, Niklas Süle will probably be needed in central defense. That leaves Marius Wolf, who has been out of form for weeks. The Spaniard Mateu Morey was not registered for the premier European football league after a real injury odyssey.
BVB fans the most important factor?
Terzic identified the atmosphere in Dortmund as the most important factor at the press conference for the game on Tuesday.
“We all stick together. We know that our fans support us, even if we have a difficult season. We want to give something back to the fans. Then we will get the best support we can imagine,” said the coach.