Friday evening, floodlights and a “Little Derby” – Borussia Dortmund and VfL Bochum will kick off Bundesliga Matchday 30. The away game in Bochum kicks off at 20:30 CET.

BVB coach Edin Terzic and his players know how to win a game under the floodlights at the Ruhrstadion. The last one was not all that long ago – in the DFB-Pokal round of 16 at the beginning of February – and ended in a 2-1 away victory thanks to goals from Emre Can and Marco Reus. “It was very close in the cup, we had to fight for the win until the end,” recalled Terzic. The most recent clashes in the Bundesliga have been hard-fought too – an example being the 1-1 away draw in December 2021, in which Julian Brandt only restored parity in the closing stages.

The atmosphere at the relatively small Ruhrstadion, which is sold out with almost 28,000 spectators set to attend, is heated, according to Terzic. “The opposition fans are very energetic and support their team. We know that it’s going to be a tough task to win away to VfL Bochum,” explained the coach, citing the games against Frankfurt, Gladbach, Union Berlin and Leipzig – all of whom VfL have managed to beat on home turf this term. “They play very intense football. The atmosphere helps them. The whole city knows what’s at stake and that every individual is needed.” The coach also emphasised the fixed patterns in the opposition’s play. “They always use their goalkeeper and their central defenders to bypass the opponent’s pressing and find their target player in the attack, who either lays the ball off or flicks it on towards the pacy wing forwards.” Bochum are also very effective from attacking set-pieces.

Centre-backs Nico Schlotterbeck and Soumaila Coulibaly will not be able to help defend those set-pieces. Schlotterbeck, who had to be substituted against Frankfurt last weekend, has sustained another muscle injury in his thigh. Coulibaly has slightly twisted his knee in training and has not been able to train fully in the past few days. Mats Hummels and Niklas Süle could form the centre-back partnership, as they did in the cup.

BVB have won not only that cup tie but also the reverse fixture on home turf too (3-0). “We’re sure that it’s not going to be any easier than it was in those two games,” said Terzic, adding: “But we’ll approach this challenge with a good portion of self-belief. We want to take five more steps. The most important step is the next one, and that is tomorrow. The boys have made a good impression in training, we’re prepared.”
Christina Reinke

BVB TV by 1&1: The press conference before the game in Bochum