Jadon Sancho has been ruled out of Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against his former club Manchester City. The England winger is back in training after six weeks out with a thigh injury but the match at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday comes too soon.
The German side go into the game looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit after defeat against the Premier League leaders in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium last week.
The Dortmund interim coach Edin Terzic said: “Jadon won’t be at our disposal, although he trained again. He is doing his best to return as fast as possible and we would like to have him with us tomorrow but he won’t be. We have to take our time with him, so he is not an option for tomorrow, but we hope it won’t last much longer for him before he comes back into the team.”
Dortmund also have doubts over the experienced pair Marco Reus – goalscorer in the first leg – and the World Cup winner Mats Hummels.
Terzic said: “There are a few players slightly injured. We will have to wait. Reus and Hummels needed to be substituted and leave the pitch on Saturday. We have another training session and we will see who will be at our disposal.”
Erling Haaland is likely to be key to Dortmund’s hopes of turning the tie around. The 20-year-old Norwegian has not scored in his past six games for club or country but Terzic does not think continued speculation over the player’s future is affecting his game.
“Even if he hasn’t scored in these last matches he is an important, key player for us. He can cause difficulties for our opponents. As we saw in the last matches, especially in the second half against Stuttgart, he did a great job. It is important that he scores goals and he is the key player for us.”
The Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan has warned of the quality of his former side. The German represented City’s opponents from 2011-16 before his £20m move to the Etihad Stadium
“I wasn’t surprised,” he said. “I still follow them a lot and watch as many games as possible. I know they have a lot of quality in the squad and individually with amazing, fast players. I know they can beat, on a good day, every good team in Europe.”
from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3ddJqcP
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