“A special game” | OneFootball

Dino Toppmöller on upcoming opponents Dortmund, focusing on his own team, Eintracht’s possible starting XI and the availability of Tuta and Amenda.

Head coach Dino Toppmöller on …

… how Eintracht are shaping up: “We’ve made great progress in all areas - good games, lots of goals, improved set pieces. We’re very much on the right track, but we need to be humble too - which we are. We’re prepared for everything and looking forward to the task at hand. It’s a special game to kick off the second half of the season, here at home against BVB at a sold-out stadium.”

… opponents Borussia Dortmund: “Before the season started, quite a few people regarded BVB as title contenders. Their transfers speak volumes about Dortmund’s ambition, but what’s happening there at the moment doesn’t concern us. I can’t comment on that – and I don’t want to either. It’ll be a difficult task tomorrow against a team with enormous individual quality, but we feel we’re ready for a top performance that will help us beat Borussia Dortmund.”

… the starting XI: “Omar will play tomorrow, under normal circumstances. He’s in my plans. We may field the same team for a third game in a row in order to keep the lads in their positions and establish a good rhythm, but we’re also thinking about making two or three changes to keep them fresh. We haven’t made a final call on that yet.”

… Tuta: “I’ve spoken to him. He knows how much the club, the coaching staff and I value him. He’s an incredibly important player who produced outstanding performances in the first half of the season before unfortunately picking up an injury. He’s well on the way to returning to the starting XI. If he doesn’t start on Friday, it’ll be because the [other] lads are doing really well at the moment. In the end, it’s only a matter of time before a player of his quality is back in the starting XI on a regular basis.”

… Aurèle Amenda: “Aurèle will be able to do parts of training next week, in particular the passing drills and being a ‘neutral’ player in the rondos. He could be in contention for a place in the [matchday] squad in February.