ScenarioThe match towards Villarreal marks the beginning of the second half of the league section within the UEFA Champions League for the Black and Yellows. After two wins (Athletic Membership, Copenhagen), one draw (Juventus) and most not too long ago one defeat (Manchester Metropolis), Borussia Dortmund are in 14th place within the desk with seven factors. Ending on this spot would assure Borussia Dortmund a spot within the play-offs, whereas direct qualification for the spherical of 16 can be secured by ending in eighth place, which is at the moment occupied by Liverpool, who’ve 9 factors.
Personnel mattersIn addition to Niklas Süle, who has not but returned to attributable to his toe issues, Borussia can even be with out Maximilian Beier on Tuesday night, who needed to go away the ultimate coaching session early. Niko Kovac spoke of “muscular issues” on the press convention: “Maxi performed 90 minutes towards Stuttgart on Saturday and held out. Nothing is damaged, it’s just a few stiffness,” stated the BVB coach. There’s excellent news, nevertheless, for defender Ramy Bensebaini, who returned to staff coaching after his again issues. Emre Can admits that he nonetheless has room for enchancment after his lengthy absence, however, in keeping with the BVB captain, “if the coach picks me tomorrow, I’ll be 100% prepared.”
The oppositionVillarreal at the moment have one thing of the Jekyll and Hyde about them: on the one hand, issues are going rather well for the membership from jap Spain in La Liga. After 13 matchdays, Marcelino’s staff are third within the desk with 29 factors — narrowly behind the 2 giants Barcelona (31 factors) and Actual Madrid (32) (). “The truth that they’re there implies that they’re performing rather well,” says Niko Kovac in regards to the opponent. Within the Champions League, nevertheless, issues should not wanting so good for Villarreal: with just one level from 4 video games (a 2-2 draw with Juventus), the Spaniards are in thirty second place within the desk.
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“They haven’t achieved what they may have within the Champions League,” explains Kovac, warning forward of Tuesday night’s conflict: “That doesn’t make issues any simpler for us; they are going to give the whole lot to get via to the subsequent stage.” To take action, Villarreal must end the league section in twenty fourth place, the place Napoli at the moment sit with 4 factors. The BVB coach has little doubt that the Spaniards can nonetheless attain the knockout levels of the Champions League: “Their gamers are technically very expert, very quick and have an excellent transition recreation.”
First aggressive match BVB and Villarreal have by no means met in a aggressive match, however they’ve performed one another twice in friendlies: in 2022 and 2024, Borussia performed towards the Spanish facet throughout their summer season coaching camp. The outcome: a 2-0 defeat on the primary event, and a 2-2 draw final 12 months after objectives from Jamie Gittens and Marcel Sabitzer. To make sure that the primary aggressive match towards Villarreal ends in victory, Niko Kovac is demanding focus above all else from his staff: “We wish to win, that’s our clear mission, our clear aim. To try this, we’d like a robust efficiency.”
Nina Bargel-Neuhaus