Valdez to sit out of Bayern match
Borussia Dortmund striker Nelson Valdez will have to miss the teams match against Bayern Munich next week. The Paraguayan international picked up his 5th booking of this season resulting in an automatic one match ban.
Valdez' suspension will no doubt cause Jurgen Klopp some problems as his team is already riddled with injuries at the moment.
Zidan: “Dortmund and BVB are my home.”
Recent Africa Cup Champion Mohamed Zidan has made clear where is home is. Zidan gave a brief interview after landing in Dusseldorf on return from his country. "I am full of joy, motivation, self-confidence, and full of energy," said the Dortmund attacker. Zidan is expected to play on Sunday against Eintracht Frankfurt (17.30). "I can hardly wait to get back out there," said the 29 year old Egyptian.
Over his role in the Africa Cup he had this to say, "I played an important role. I missed the Final of the last cup when I was with Mainz because we were in a relegation battle. I had to watch the final in a hotel in Hamburg." Zidan did not have to watch from abroad again, he played in this years final and assisted on the goal. "We were outnumbered, 2 against 4. I played a pass beyond three defenders and right into the path of Mohamed Gedo. One touch, shot, goal!"
Today Zidan returns to Dortmund. "Now I am finally home. Dortmund is my home." The smile he gave only showed his sincerity. Zidan received numerous texts from teammates before all of the games in Africa and he said he was floored to receive them. Zidan even talked on the phone with Owomoyela "every two or three days."
Borussia Dortmund against Eintracht Frankfurt: Preview
Borussia Dortmund look to splash doubts of a lack of good form and are setting their sights on Frankfurt. Dortmund fell last weekend 1-4 against a strong Suttgart side away from home. The Westfalen return home and will have the support of 70,000 or more fans rooting for them for the clash against Frankfurt on Sunday (17.30).
Dortmund will have Mohamad Zidan back in the squad and it appears that Sven Bender is fit. Bender will be a game time decision, but in training today he had no pain from an earlier complication from the knee. Dortmund will be missing star midfielder Kuba who is suffering from back problems. Felipe Santana is still making a recovery from a bone bruise but the prognosis is looking better.
Frankfurt have a strew of their own players missing but much of their starting eleven has not been badly effected. Big Star missing from Frankfurt is the Greek forward Amanatidis. Dortmund can cushion their lead on Frankfurt in a European place with a win. Frankfurt is eight points behind Dortmund and a win would see Dortmund move eleven points clear of Frankfurt. Dortmund currently sit fourth in the table on 36 points and are looking ambitiously to play European football this year.
Possible Lineups:
Borussia Dortmund: Ziegler - Owomoyela, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Bender (Santana), Sahin - Valdez, Zidan, Großkreutz - Barrios.
Bench: Höttecke - Dede, Hünemeier, Santana, Hajnal, Götze, Ginczek, Stiepermann.
Questionable: Bender, Barrios, Santana.
Missing: Weidenfeller, Kuba, Kehl, Tinga, Feulner, Rangelov, Öztekin.
Eintracht Frankfurt: Nikolov - Franz, Russ, Chris, Spycher - Teber - Ochs, Meier, Liberopoulos, Köhler - Altintop.
Bench: Fährmann - Jung, Heller, Tsoumou, Caio, Toski, Titsch-Rivero
Questionable: Chris, Teber.
Missing: Petkovic, Vasoski, Bajramovic, Korkmaz, Clark, Fenin, Amanatidis, Schwegler, Tosun, Alvarez.
Referee: Unknown
Yellow Card Tally: Barrios, Sahin, Valdez, Schmelzer (all 4) - Teber (9), Ochs (4).
Attendance: 70,000(unofficial number)
Dortmund Captain Kehl back in training
Sebastian Kehl has made his return to the training ground after months of abdominal injury troubles. The Captain for Dortmund held an individual training session with coaching staff and the results were positive. Juergen Klopp, "Everything is forward from here." Kehl however, will not be expected on the bench or in the team this weekend as BVB medical staff want to take their time with the long injured defensive midfielder. Kehl has been out since the beginning of the season, and training staff would prefer to take his recovery slow.
Bender Questionable against Frankfurt, Champion Zidan returns to squad
Sven Bender is questionable for this weekends clash with Eintracht Frankfurt. The U-19 European Champion is recovering from inflammation in his knee. Bender is showing signs of good recovery and could make his way back on the pitch for Dortmund this weekend. Bender has started six times in a row for BVB, and all six times have resulted in a win. Bender was absent from last weekends clash with VfB Stuttgart and the improvisation didn't work well. Hummels was out of his element in the defensive midfield position and Hummels replacement Santana had an own goal. Dortmund will be hoping for a return of the young star in order to lay to rest any questions of a possible slip in form for BVB.
Mohamad Zidan is returning a champion form the Africa Cup. Dortmund front office will be honoring Zidan for the accomplishment when he returns from his home country Egypt. Zidan is expected to report for team training on Thursday and will be ready and fit for this weekends game. Dortmund is welcoming the return of their play maker as the injury list grows. Still questionable for this weekend are Santana and Kuba.
Dortmund fairest team in the league
Having received no red cards or yellow-red cards and only picking up 31 yellow cards in total, Borussia Dortmund are ranked fairest team in the Bundesliga. But going into the match against Eintracht Frankfurt four players will have to be on their best behaviour.
Lucas Barrios, Nelson Valdez, Nuri Sahin and Marcel Schmelzer have all accumulated 4 yellow cards each. Meaning if they get one more booking they will face a match ban. Which would only add to the teams personnel problems at the moment, with a few key players out injured.
More Injury Worries
Borussia Dortmund already have their fair share in injury problems, but there is to be another two added.
Jakub "Kuba" Blaszczykowsi limped off after only 20 minutes of the first half against Stuttgart. Kuba has been suffering a groin injury since the Koln game but today proved to be too much. It is unclear how long he will be unavailable for.
Felipe Santana managed to play the whole match against Stuttgart after injuring his ankle the same morning. It looks as though he will be given some time to recover.
Dortmund suffer at the hands of Stuttgart
Stuttgart 4 - 1 Borussia Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmunds unbeaten streak came to an abrupt end today as they lost 4-1 against Stuttgart. Dortmund had previously gone 12 games unbeaten. But Stuttgart are also on a good streak and proved too powerful for Dortmund.
Before the match Stuttgart sat in 13 place on the table and Dortmund in 4th. Luckily for Dortmund they continue to occupy 4th spot but this win moves Stuttgart up to 10th place.
Stuttgart went ahead in the 14th minute when Pogrebnyak scored from close range with what would have been Stuttgarts only shot on goal in the first half. The Stuttgart defence stood strong as Borussia Dortmund came at them during the first half.
In the second half Stuttgart had numerous chances to extend their lead, most notably when Ciprian Marica hit the crossbar from the penalty spot on the 47th minute. Three minutes later though Dortmund had equalised after Grosskreutz played in Barrios who fired home. Both teams then fought for the lead.
Stuttgart then went on to score 3 goals in the last 15 minutes to rid of any hopes of Dortmund getting a 7th win in a row. Kuzmanovic (77'), Marica (86') and Träsch (89')
VfB Stuttgart: Lehmann - Celozzi, Niedermeier, Tasci, Molinaro - Träsch, Khedira - Gebhart, Hleb - Marica, Pogrebnyak.
Bor. Dortmund: Ziegler - Owomoyela, Subotic, Santana, Schmelzer - Hummels, Sahin - Kuba, Valdez, Großkreutz - Barrios.
Sunstitutions: 59. Hilbert for Hleb, 65. Kuzmanovic for Gebhart - 22. Le Tallec for Kuba, 85. Hajnal and Götze for Valdez und Santana.
Goals: 1:0 Pogrebnyak, 1:1 Barrios , 2:1 Kuzmanovic, 3:1 Marica, 4:1 Träsch .
Referee: Gagelmann (Bremen), Yellow Cards: Marica, Pogrebnyak - Sahin, Santana, Barrios, Schmelzer.
Attendance: 42.000.
Lukas Nottbeck to join BVBII on loan
Borussia Dortmund II have strengthened the team by bringing in Cologne II player Lukas Nottbeck on loan until the end of the season. The midfielder is under contract with Cologne until 30. June 2011, and is supposed to gain experience by playing for Dortmund II in Germany's new formed 3. League.
Nottbeck hasn't been a fixture in the starting eleven for Cologne but will bring much needed strength for BVB II to fend off relegation from the 3. League.
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