Between facing Manchester City and Copenhagen, Borussia Dortmund will visit Eintracht Frankfurt for the Matchday 12 game of the round. Kick-off on Saturday (29/10) is at 18:30 CET.

At present, Borussia Dortmund are used to playing matches every three or four days. On Tuesday, they secured qualification to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League thanks to a 0-0 draw with Manchester City. The final match of their group-stage campaign will come in Copenhagen next week, though it will have no implications whatsoever on qualification from Group G. Between the two games, there is a real highlight on the agenda: the Black & Yellows are away to Eintracht Frankfurt. “This is not new for us. We knew that we’d often have such spells this season. We’re not alone in this respect,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic in reference to the number of games. Frankfurt have been in UCL action too: having beaten Marseille 2-1 last time out, the Hesse outfit will travel to Lisbon to face Sporting next week with a place in the knockout stages still at stake. 

With BVB having prematurely secured their spot in the Champions League round of 16, Terzic wants his team to make up some ground in the Bundesliga. “That’s why it’s not difficult to keep motivation and excitement levels high,” the coach explained, adding: “We have to make up some points and the best way to do that is to start tomorrow.” BVB climbed to fifth in the table with 19 points – one place and one point behind their next opponents – following their 5-0 victory over VfB Stuttgart last weekend. 

Raphael Guerreiro sidelined

Raphael Guerreiro will definitely miss the match in Frankfurt with muscular problems, and the left-back probably will not board the plane to Copenhagen either. “We’re focusing more on getting him fit again for the Bochum game,” said Terzic, who again left question marks hanging over the involvement of Marco Reus following his ankle injury. “He has felt better again in the past few days. After today’s training session, we will decide whether he’s ready for the matchday squad.” Salih Özcan will return to the fold after serving his suspension in the Champions League. 

Ansgar Knauff, who is on loan at Frankfurt from Dortmund, is expected to miss out. The Hesse club have two more former BVB players in their squad who have previously worked with Terzic in Dortmund: Sebastian Rode and Mario Götze. “In Mario’s case, I’m delighted that he’s got back to his level. He’s in really good form, very confident on the ball and is linking up very well in attack with Randal Kolo Muani and Jesper Lindström,” explained the BVB coach. “We’re aware of the fact that Mario is capable of playing a killer pass and posing a goal threat himself. But it won’t be a matter of taking Mario Götze out of the game, but rather the entire Eintracht Frankfurt attack.”

That is because the Europa League winners are especially dangerous going forward. “They press courageously and defend courageously regardless of the opponent. They play the same way in Bochum and away to Tottenham. That suggests a lot of self-belief,” analysed Terzic, who continued: “The atmosphere around the club, which particularly comes to the fore at home games and European away games, is extraordinary. We’re looking forward to the challenge. We know that it won’t be easy. But we’ve also shown that we can play better football than we have in the last weeks. It’ll be a defining game for us.” 
Christina Reinke

BVB TV by 1&1: The press conference before the match in Frankfurt