Next up for Borussia Dortmund after beating Fortuna Düsseldorf and securing qualification for the UEFA Champions League is the final English week of the season, which begins when 1. FSV Mainz 05 visit SIGNAL IDUNA PARK on Wednesday evening.

Lucien Favre remained coy about whether the two games taking place this week could prompt him to rotate. "I'd obviously like to do that, but it's very difficult at present. We have four players who are unavailable," said the Borussia Dortmund coach in reference to the injury list. "It could be that we do a few things," he added, raising the prospect that one or two first-team players might be given a breather.

Erling Haaland could well be handed a starting berth after coming off the bench against Düsseldorf and scoring the winning goal in a 1-0 victory. "It's important he has fresh legs, but under normal circumstances he'll play. We need him," said Favre, who went on to praise his striker. "I like his mentality. He always wants to be involved, he always wants to win." There was also praise for Giovanni Reyna. "He's only 17 but he's a huge talent. He understands football, makes the right runs, defends properly. It's fantastic what he does." Reyna had been included in the starting XI for the Schalke game in March before it was ultimately called off. When action eventually resumed in May, an injury sustained during the warm-up denied him a first start.

Having recently faced Paderborn and Düsseldorf, the Black & Yellows will go up against another relegation struggler on Wednesday evening. Mainz currently occupy 15th spot in the table. "They lost against Augsburg but they could've gone 3-0 up," said Favre, who has scrutinised the next opponents. "They have a huge amount of power going forward and are dangerous. They'll give everything against us. We want to keep winning."

The coach knows the attackers will be vital in ensuring his charges continue their winning ways. "We didn't find our strikers" against Düsseldorf. "We need to improve in that respect." Should they do so, Borussia could well set a new club record for goals scored in a single campaign. The team have already found the net 82 times this term – as many as they managed in their record-setting 2015/16 season: "We always want to go forward. There are still three matches. If we can score more goals, then we'll do that. But a victory always takes priority." Three more wins will take BVB's tally up to 75 points. "Last season we got 76 points. If we end this season with 75 points, that would be very good again."
Christina Reinke