On Friday morning it was still not clear which players would be able to board the team bus for the trip to Mainz later in the day. Jürgen Klopp would have to wait until after the final training session to find out about it. On Wednesday, the Dortmund coach went to see the club’s U23’s side against third division leaders Chemnitz, and given BVB’s ongoing injury problems, he watched the game with even greater interest.

However, the more important conclusions he has probably drawn from Tuesday’s game when his injury-stricken side put in a performance against Arsenal which will serve as a “benchmark” (Klopp) for future games, and which also showed what this squad is really capable of. “We have taken a huge step forward on Tuesday,” said Klopp. On the basis of this performance, the team will travel with a lot of confidence to Mainz – regardless of who’s able to board the team bus on Friday afternoon.

But confidence alone – along with a three-game winning run in the Bundesliga and Champions League – will not be enough to get a result on Saturday. Without taking the 05er’s dramatic last-minute reshuffling of the squad this summer into account, Mainz’s last match at Hertha BSC Berlin has been thoroughly analysed by Klopp and his team of coaches. “Mainz were the much better team for an hour and also scored their goals at the right times,” said Klopp approvingly, adding: “We will go into this match well prepared and try to cause them more problems than they cause us.”

“I will only think about the line-up when I know what I have at my disposal,” said Klopp who also told his team to “press the ball first” before “starting to play our football.”

The BVB coach is in no mood to do his old club any favours. On the contrary, the Black and Yellows look to beat Mainz at their home ground for the fifth year in a row. Klopp said, “I wish this club all the best, but twice a year we want to beat them. They already got Hoffi, they won’t get anything else…”