BVB travel to Norway without Schlotterbeck – fight for third point

Rain pelts the floodlights of the Bodø/Glimt‑stadium, while the black‑and‑yellow team from Dortmund is already planning the journey. On the way to the top in the north, Borussia, however, is without its 26‑year‑old centre‑back Nico Schlotterbeck, who remains in Dortmund for workload‑management reasons.

Trip to the far north

Lars Baron/GettyImages has shown that BVB must travel to Norway for the second task in the Champions League group stage. On Wednesday evening at 21 o’clock the black‑and‑yellow will host Bodø/Glimt, a team that already caused a stir last season.

Previous encounter and current goals

In the last league season Borussia already faced the then surprise team of the Champions League and had to settle for a 2‑2 draw in its own stadium. This time the team wants to polish the hard‑won 3‑2 away success against Villarreal and keep the course towards the knockout phase, with a three‑goal haul to lead to victory.

Selection problems without Schlotterbeck

As announced by BVB early Tuesday afternoon, Schlotterbeck is missing from the matchday squad because he did not embark on the trip to Norway. The defender had injured himself during the international break with the DFB team and had to leave early, but was surprisingly fit in time for the Bundesliga restart on Friday against Werder Bremen and played the full match as captain.

BVB lets Schlotterbeck rest in the Champions League duel against Bodø

He missed the start of the season due to an ankle injury he suffered at the World Cup in the summer; he only returned to action from the third matchday. Given a packed schedule with nine games in 30 days, of which the away match against Bodø/Glimt is the second, it is understandable that head coach Marco Kovac gives his star defender a short break.

Instead of Schlotterbeck, Julian Ryerson, another key performer, could be in the squad. The Norwegian missed the game against Bremen due to a bruised rib, and his availability remains to be seen. Kovac could provide first insights at the press conference on Tuesday evening from 17 o’clock.

Table forecast: Where Bayern and BVB start in Norway

The probable lineup could look like this: Kobel – Gadou, Anton, Bensebaini – Ryerson, Veerman, Bellingham, Svensson – Karetsas, Silva – Guirassy.