Kehl and Götze back for Mainz game - Barrios and Bender not ruled out yet
In the second half of their 2-1 defeat at Hannover 96, Borussia Dortmund were without Marcel Schmelzer, Sven Bender, Mario Götze and Lucas Barrios, and so, if Nuri Sahin who left in the summer for Real Madrid is also included, half of last season´s title-winning starting eleven. Jürgen Klopp has never used injuries as an excuse for a loss, but he must have been relieved to see the injury list getting shorter ahead of Saturday´s match at Mainz.
Mario Götze and skipper Sebastian Kehl will definitively return to the squad following their two-match suspensions - and the two are also likely to start against Mainz. And Sven Bender (groin strain) and Lucas Barrios, who has been sidelined for months with a muscle injury he picked up while playing for Paraguay at the Copa America in July, haven´t been completely ruled out for Saturday´s game.
"On Wednesday Lucas completed his first training day with the team again," said Jürgen Klopp who now wants to see how Barrios´ muscles will react to the increased workload. "We will then know when he can play again." The BVB coach will not rush the striker into a premature return. "Lucas can´t do magic, either. He has got to find his way back," said Klopp. "And this will take a couple of days."
Sven Bender hasn´t been able to take part in full training again after suffering a strained groin against Arsenal, but the BVB coach is still hopeful that his probably most important defensive player will make a faster than expected recovery.
Definitively ruled out is Marcel Schmelzer who sustained a thigh injury in Sunday´s game at Hannover. "Saturday comes too early for him," said Klopp. "But he could recover in time for the Marseille match."