Pre-Match Report
Sahin calls for "active play" and counts on Guirassy for the starting XI
Real Madrid and Sturm Graz in the UEFA Champions League, VfL Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal and FC St. Pauli, FC Augsburg, Leipzig and FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga – those are the opponents that lie in store for BVB over the course of the next three weeks. "They're completely different matches. Now we're focused on St. Pauli, on a home game that we absolutely want to win. It is our job to prepare the team for each game to ensure we know what's at stake. What kind of football does the opponent play, what do we have to do, where are the spaces?" said BVB coach Nuri Sahin, as he looked ahead to the first of the three upcoming English weeks.
While the Black & Yellows have picked up three wins from three matches in the Champions League and DFB-Pokal, the team have fallen short of their own expectations in the Bundesliga. The 2-1 defeat away to Union Berlin prior to the international break saw BVB drop down to seventh place in the table. "It's never good to sign off for the international break with a defeat," Sahin said, adding: "As a coaching team, we have had a lot of time and took a look at lots of things. After a game like that, I use the next 24-48 hours to ensure we know: What was it down to, where are the solutions, what do we need to change or improve?" Only on Wednesday afternoon will Sahin be reunited with the full squad, 13 members of which have been away on international duty with their countries across the two weeks of training.
Successful international window
During the international period, he kept in regular contact with his international players. "After the matches, the lads quickly write how long they played for, what position they played in and whether they are healthy. The final messages arrived yesterday, meaning that I could then breathe a sigh of relief. I'm happy that nobody sustained an injury and that the lads played good games. Many of us got on the scoresheet too." One such player was Serhou Guirassy, who found the net five times in two matches for Guinea. Despite the international appearances, the attacker will be in the starting line-up on Friday, as Sahin has already confirmed. The rest of the squad and starting line-up will not be finalised until Thursday evening or Friday morning. In addition to the four absentees Yan Couto, Karim Adeyemi, Gio Reyna and Julien Duranville, there are question marks over the appearances of Julian Ryerson, Niklas Süle and Maximilian Beier (to the personnel report).
St. Pauli back in Dortmund after 13 years
FC St. Pauli will be making their first visit to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK in the Bundesliga since 2011. BVB ran out 2-0 winners on that occasion (thanks to Lucas Barrios and an own goal), with Nuri Sahin and his now assistant coach Lukasz Piszczek on the pitch. The promoted outfit have picked up four points so far this season (one win, one draw and four defeats). A fortnight ago, the Hamburg club suffered a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of FSV Mainz, having previously kept two clean sheets against Freiburg and Leipzig. "They have a clear structure and use switch play to get forward, but we're playing at home, want to play a very active game and try to win the match."
In that case, BVB would extend their run. The Black & Yellows have not lost a Friday evening game on home turf for 20 years. "I would not mind if we could manage to extend this statistic," Sahin said. "The magic of this stadium is completely different when the floodlights are on. Then there's a completely different energy in this stadium. As a player, I loved playing in the evening and I get the feeling it's the same for the lads."
Should BVB claim the victory, they will not only have extended their run but will also have started the first of their three English weeks on a successful note.
Christina Reinke
BVB TV by 1&1: The press conference prior to the game against St. Pauli