Borussia vs. Borussia: possible absences, special praise and a prestigious clash

Borussia vs. Borussia: possible absences, special praise and a prestigious clash

The scenarioLast weekend, BVB secured their place in the Champions League. Now the Black & Yellows can clinch the runners-up spot. If Borussia win and Leipzig fail to win in Leverkusen, second place – which they have held since matchday 15 – will be theirs for the taking. It would be their eighth second-place finish in 14 years and their tenth runners-up spot overall.

The team picked up three more points with a 4-0 home win against Freiburg. For Kovac, the first half was one of the best of the season: “The first half was very dominant as we played with great intensity and were very aggressive. We pressed the opposition high up the pitch, kept them away from our goal and played really good football.”

Last weekend’s match against Freiburg was the club’s 1,000th Bundesliga home game in its history. The 1,000th away game is now approaching in Mönchengladbach, and it will also be the 2,000th Bundesliga match in the club’s history. To date, BVB have celebrated 924 victories in the Bundesliga.

Personnel mattersThere is good news regarding Karim Adeyemi, who took part in parts of the team training session on Thursday. Ramy Bensebaini picked up an injury against Freiburg and has not yet returned to training because of a swollen foot. Kovac does not expect the defender to be fit to play against his former club and names Luca Reggiani and Filippo Mane as his first-choice alternatives. The manager also said that things are looking better for Yan Couto and , who had to sit out on Wednesday and Thursday due to illness. “But we think they’ll be fit for the weekend,” said Kovac, who also has good news regarding . “Felix is on the mend, but he hasn’t trained with the team yet either.” He is on track, but a return to action would still be too soon. Niklas Süle and remain sidelined.