Borussia Dortmund's injury concerns ease before facing PSG
Borussia Dortmund's injury worries have eased and coach Edin Terzić is hopeful all but two players will be fit for the Cham‐ pions League semifinal first leg against Paris Saint‐Germain.
Terzić said on Tuesday that left back Ramy Bensebaini and young forward Julien Duranville are definitely out of Wednes‐ day's match, but that others can return after missing the team's 4‐1 loss at Leipzig in the Bun‐ desliga on Saturday.
Emre Can and Ian Maatsen are back and well‐rested after serv‐ ing suspensions last weekend.
"Marcel Sabitzer and Donyell Malen took part in training again yesterday," Terzić said. "Donny couldn't take part in everything. Marcel felt much better and was very happy. Sébastien Haller could take part in some of the training and we'll see today how the final training session devel‐ ops. For now, we're assuming that the guys will be available to‐ morrow."
Ivory Coast forward Haller has been laboring with a persistent left ankle injury.
Dortmund, which knocked out Atlético Madrid to reach the final four, already faced PSG in the group stage, losing 2‐0 in Paris before drawing 1‐1 at home and topping the group.
The German team is unbeaten in its last 10 games at home in the competition and will again look to the support from its "yel‐ low wall."
But Terzić is aware that PSG, which already has the French league title wrapped up, needs to finally win Europe's premier competition to justify more than a decade of huge investment from its Qatari owners.
"They have added a very, very high level of quality to this team, a team that has been built up in recent years to win the Champi‐ ons League," Terzić said. "At the start of the season they may not have performed so well, but they always got their results, perhaps not yet with the performances they had imagined. But they im‐ proved a lot during the first half of the season."
Terzić suggested Luis Enrique's team is peaking at the right time.
"It's not easy to stop them, though every team tries," Terzić said. "If you take Kylian Mbappé, for example, with his exceptional individual quality, he has now scored 43 goals in 44 games. Op‐ ponents set themselves the goal of not letting him score in 44 games. It doesn't always work." It's not just about Mbappé. Striker Gonçalo Ramos also poses a threat with his heading, his ability to hold the ball and his strong running. Ramos has scored regularly in recent weeks, and the 22‐year‐old Portugal in‐ ternational praised coach Luis Enrique for creating a healthy competition for places that has made players much sharper.
"Nobody knows who's starting in the game," said Ramos, who has scored 14 goals in all compe‐ titions. "That's why we are al‐ ways ready for anything."
Enrique has no injury worries and said the whole squad is fit.
He praised midfielder Vitinha, who scored in both legs of the quarterfinal against Barcelona.
"Vitinha is one of the best mid‐ fielders in the world. He can play on the wing, he can play as a holding midfielder and he can play inside (behind the for‐ wards)," Enrique said through a translator. "One of the areas where he has improved, and that's down to me, is his defend‐ ing."