Thomas Tuchel has more, rather than fewer, injuries to contend with ahead of Tuesday evening's clash with Hamburg. Marcel Schmelzer (back) and Julian Weigl (thigh) are "receiving round-the-clock care to get them fit in time," the coach explained, but Erik Durm and André Schürrle "won't make it". On top of that, Sokratis will miss the match through suspension after accumulating five yellow cards.

"We're now approaching the business end of the season. Every single day we have without a player is a day too many," bemoaned the 43-year-old, who is not expecting Durm back on the (training) pitch until "the weekend at the earliest" and has not even earmarked a date for the return from injury of Schürrle (knock to the Achilles' heel).

Marco Reus to make comeback soon

The club's injury woes look set to lessen in the near future, however. Nurih Sahin and Sven Bender were fit enough to claim a squad berth against Schalke – but the pair are being reintroduced slowly, as is Sebastian Rode. As for Marco Reus, Tuchel said: "Marco's back on the pitch and feeling positive. He's still training individually, but he's working with the ball." Whether it's Reus or the others, the same dilemma looms large for the boss: "Do we throw them in in the middle of a hectic schedule? We need to strike the right balance: compensate for the losses and get results every three days."

For that very reason, both coach and players are taking each game as it comes. "One step at a time. Tomorrow we mustn't be thinking about the fact that we're playing in Munich on Saturday, and when we're there, we can't be thinking about Tuesday's game with Monaco," he said.

"The Yellow Wall always plays a role"

That means "the full focus is on HSV", according to Tuchel, who believes his Black and Yellows will face a "resurgent opponent" that will "demand everything of them". BVB do, however, have home advantage. Though inconsistent on the road ("We're missing that last few percent to swing the games in our favour. Every opponent seizes the chance to excel against us at home"), Borussia are currently on an extraordinary run at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. "We regularly play ourselves into a flow – sometimes even a frenzy – at home with this young and inexperienced team. The crowd are very sensitive and drive us forward. The Yellow Wall always plays a role," Tuchel concluded.

Hopefuly that will continue against HSV on Tuesday.
Boris Rupert