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Borussia Dortmund will commence their UEFA Champions League campaign on Tuesday evening at Signal Iduna Park against Spanish visitors Villarreal. The German side arrives at this fixture riding momentum from three consecutive victories, including a dramatic comeback win against Hoffenheim last weekend. However, manager Niko Kovač faces substantial defensive challenges, with multiple key players unavailable due to injury and suspension, forcing him to field an experimental backline.
Dortmund’s injury crisis includes centre-back Filippo Mané, who picked up a thigh problem during the weekend clash, alongside longer-term absences for captain Emre Can and summer acquisition Giannis Konstantelias due to serious knee issues. Additional complications stem from the unavailability of Ramy Bensebaini and Nico Schlotterbeck through suspension. Despite these setbacks, Kovač has confirmed that Daniel Svensson and Konstantinos Karetsas remain fit for selection after skipping Monday training for workload management.
Villarreal, meanwhile, arrives in Germany struggling domestically, having failed to win any of their opening four league matches under new manager Íñigo Pérez. The Spanish outfit suffered a demoralizing 3-2 home defeat to newly-promoted Deportivo La Coruña over the weekend, with defensive vulnerabilities painfully exposed. Juan Foyth remains sidelined through muscle injury, while left-back Carlos Romero is doubtful after missing recent fixtures through physical discomfort. Despite their poor form, Pérez possesses attacking firepower through Gerard Moreno and Georges Mikautadze, capable of exploiting Dortmund’s makeshift defensive setup.
The match takes place Tuesday at 8pm BST and will be available on TNT Sports 2 in the United Kingdom.
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Originally reported by Sports.yahoo →
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