The backdrop
The three-month summer break is over, the 2024/25 Bundesliga season is just around the corner and excitement is building. “We took some confidence out of the cup win,” said Hugo Ekitiké, “but we still need to carry on putting in the hard work!”
The striker’s words can almost be seen as a club motto for their pre-season, which began on 8 July and saw them play five friendlies, leading up to the first round proper of the DFB Cup away to Braunschweig, which the team safely negotiated during the week. Borussia Dortmund also made it through to round two, winning 4-1 away to 1. FC Phönix Lübeck.
Dino Toppmöller is expecting “a totally different match” from the cup clash. “We’re the outsiders here. We’re looking forward to kicking off our campaign and want to ride the wave of positivity that we’re currently on and bring the energy to this game.” The head coach added that “Dortmund away is a big challenge”.
Upheaval at BVB
The Black-and-Yellows had an up-and-down 2023/24 season, finishing fifth in the Bundesliga but reaching the Champions League final. Saturday will be BVB’s second match with Nuri Sahin at the helm, after the former youth-team player joined his old club in January as an assistant coach before taking over from Edin Terzic in the summer.
Key players Marco Reus and Niclas Füllkrug have both left the club since the end of last season, with new recruits Serhou Guirassy, Maximilian Beier and Pascal Groß given the difficult task of replacing them. The team started their pre-season on 10 July, heading off on a tour of Asia before a training camp in Bad Ragaz in Switzerland. BVB then drew 2-2 with Villarreal and won 2-0 against Aston Villa in their main warm-up matches. Coach Sahin set out his stall ahead of the season-opener, saying: “We want to rub shoulders with the elite in Europe. We’ve got a great squad with everything we need. Now we need to prove ourselves out on the pitch.”
