Borussia Dortmund will welcome Eintracht Frankfurt to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK for the top match at 18:30 CET on Saturday evening. After the draw against Stuttgart a week ago, the team want to return to winning ways against Frankfurt. “We’ve turned our focus forwards,” BVB coach Edin Terzic said.

“We said before the season that we wanted to compete for titles. We still have the chance to play for a title now and that’s the German Championship,” said the coach of the side in second spot. “The gap stands at two points, there are still six games remaining – of which four are taking place at home. At home in particular, we’ve produced some very successful football this season.” BVB have won 11 of their 13 matches in front of their own fans this term (one draw and one defeat) and sit atop the home table. Next up at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK: Eintracht Frankfurt. 

The Hesse outfit beat Union Berlin in the DFB-Pokal (2-0) and qualified for the semi-finals of the competition. However, the Eagles have not claimed a victory in any of their last seven Bundesliga matches. “The fact that Eintracht Frankfurt have been one of the most successful teams in Germany in recent years is indisputable. We’re naturally also aware that they have not won in seven Bundesliga games. But they’re in more of a results crisis than a performance crisis,” Terzic explained, adding: “The performances have frequently been right, there have been a lot of close situations. A lot of small details haven’t worked.” However, Borussia cannot count another match panning out unfortunately for the Hesse side. “We have to force the game to take this path with a good performance from us.”

BVB felt Frankfurt’s quality first-hand in the reverse fixture. The Black & Yellows won 2-1, “but we had to fight hard for the victory. They didn’t make it easy for us.” Dortmund have won their last three meetings with the club from Hesse – including the most recent home game on Matchday 1 of the 2021/22 season in which they ran out 5-2 winners. 

Question marks over Schlotterbeck, Süle and Meunier

Thomas Meunier, who sustained a muscle injury in the adductor region while in action for the U23s last weekend, will not be involved when the two teams meet this time. There are still question marks over Nico Schlotterbeck (muscle fibre tear with tendon involvement), Niklas Süle (muscular problems) and Anthony Modeste, who twisted his knee slightly in training. Schlotterbeck and Süle have recently stepped up the intensity in training. “We need to wait and see how it feels today after they participated in parts of the training session yesterday. There’s a chance that all three are involved,” Terzic said.

The coach issued the following demand for all the players on the pitch: “If we want to be more successful, we must all be prepared to go the extra metre. We have to defend the situation that we’ve played ourselves into and invest everything. That starts on Saturday.”
Christina Reinke

BVB TV by 1&1: The press conference prior to the match against Frankfurt