Dortmund’s injury concerns ease before facing PSG in Champions League semifinal

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This article was published 30/04/2024 (874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund’s injury worries have eased and coach Edin Terzić is hopeful all but two players will be fit for the Champions 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 Wednesday’s match, but that others can return after missing the team’s 4-1 loss at Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Emre Can and Ian Maatsen are back and well-rested after serving 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 develops. For now, we’re assuming that the guys will be available tomorrow.”

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 “yellow 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 Champions 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 improved 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. Opponents 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 international 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 competitions. “That’s why we are always ready for anything.”

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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 midfielders in the world. He can play on the wing, he can play as a holding midfielder and he can play inside (behind the forwards),” Enrique said through a translator. “One of the areas where he has improved, and that’s down to me, is his defending.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer