Despite their impending league title and potential European success, there are concerns over the long-term futures of Osimhen and winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

“We firmly believe in Tom’s quality and would like to reinforce this with a long-term contract extension. For his next step, it is important for him to be on the pitch as often as possible and to gain further competitive experience. We’re convinced that he will succeed in this regard in Kiel,” said BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl, who emphasised: “We’ll monitor Tom’s development at Holstein Kiel very closely.”

“Success doesn’t come by itself. We’ve got to stay hungry and focused,” said Thorup ahead of the clash. FCA’s head coach was extremely happy with the team’s performance off and on the ball in the 2-1 win over Frankfurt and wants to see the players produce it again in their next game. “I’m expecting it to be a tough match. We’ve got to be prepared to fight. We want to take the next step and control the game again.”

Around 600 fans are expected to accompany FCA to Bremen. SVW currently sit in thirteenth place, two points above the relegation zone. Ole Werner’s side have lost their last two games against strong opposition, falling to a 3-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen before VfB Stuttgart beat them 2-0 last weekend. The Green-Whites have picked up ten of their twelve points this season at the wohninvest WESERSTADION, which is why Thorup described Saturday’s opponents as a “tough to beat at home”.

“The team played with a lot of zip. A lot of things were good, these lads hadn’t played with each other much before,” Flick said (DFB.de via @iMiaSanMia). “We still scored two nice goals though and kept a clean sheet, which is what we wanted. We will prepare well for the tournament at home next year, it’s our responsibility. We saw tonight that every individual is prepared to go that extra mile.”

Düsseldorf, 19 November, 81-year-old woman, stabbed to death by her husband (89); Wuppertal, 18 November, 61-year-old woman, critically stabbed by her husband; Hamburg, 14 November, 36-year-old woman, allegedly killed by her husband “through external force”. Cloppenburg, 11 November, woman allegedly killed by husband; Hanover, 7 November, 21-year-old woman killed by ex-boyfriend.

Matchday 14 in the Bundesliga 14 | RBL travel to face last season’s runners-up | A closer look at the key players for both sides

Deniz Undav is one of six nominees for the Deutsche Fußball Liga’s November Player of the Month award.

Big reunion

Dele was an integral part of the English national team once upon a time and played five of their seven games at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The usual performance tests, which all players took part in including the still-injured Luke Rahmann, took place at the beginning of the week. The work on the pitch will get under way on Wednesday. “The lads have some hard weeks ahead,” smiled Tullberg, who wants to go “as far as possible” in all three competitions (Bundesliga, UEFA Youth League and DFB-Pokal). “The ultimate goal, however, is the West German championship. We’re aiming for a hat-trick, a third title in a row. That will be incredibly difficult, but I’m optimistic,” Tullberg explained. For the first time since 2018/19, the Bundesliga will return to a round-robin format with home and away fixtures. Under his tutelage, BVB have not lost a league match.