“Many thanks to the fans for the great atmosphere”

The central defender had returned to the team earlier than expected after sustaining a knee injury in the USA. He came on for Niklas Süle, who was suffering from a minor back issue, around the half-hour mark and took no time to settle in. Schlotterbeck won every (!) challenge and boasted an outstanding pass completion ratio of 97% – as did Mats Hummels. “I came straight from warming up and fortunately they didn’t press. So it went pretty well,” he told BVB TV after the match.

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The next Schlotterbeck-related scare came in the 68th minute. A barge from Jacob Roden saw him land heavily the ground and require treatment. “I landed unfortunately and my head still hurts a bit, but it wasn’t intentional from the opponent. That’s football,” the 23-year-old international said, before adding: “I feel good and I’m up for next week.” Borussia will be at home to Cologne and the atmosphere will be even more impressive than it was on Saturday in Mainz, where 15,000 BVB fans transformed an away match into a home game.

“Brutal! And unbelievable after what happened on the last matchday,” said Schlotterbeck: “You come out here and half the stadium is yellow. Many thanks to the fans for the great atmosphere. It’s incredibly good fun. Now it can get going.” (br)