Dortmund Players Cleared for Villarreal Clash

Borussia Dortmund’s preparations for their Champions League opener came with a small jolt on Monday: Daniel Svensson and Konstantinos Karetsas were nowhere to be seen in team training.

Any alarm faded quickly.

Head coach Niko Kovac confirmed at his pre-match press conference that both players are fully fit and in contention to face Villarreal on Tuesday.

“That was completely normal today. It can happen from time to time that we let one or two players recover in the locker room or in the gym. Both are in perfect health and are options for the game,” Kovac stressed, playing down any suggestion of a setback.

The real blow comes elsewhere in the squad.

Filippo Mané, forced off in the first half of Dortmund’s 3-2 Bundesliga win over Hoffenheim at the weekend, will miss the Villarreal match with a muscle injury. Kovac underlined that the issue was not down to mismanagement.

“We’re assuming nothing else will happen before the international break. He'll certainly return after that. Unfortunately, things like this are just part of the game. In terms of training load and training management, everything was top-notch; he had really good endurance and strength numbers,” the coach said.

Suspensions bite, injuries linger

At the back, Dortmund’s options are further thinned. Nico Schlotterbeck and Ramy Bensebaini, both recently making strides in their recoveries from injury, are unavailable on Tuesday due to suspension rather than fitness.

They join long-term absentees Giannis Konstantelias and Emre Can on the sidelines, leaving Kovac to juggle his resources as Dortmund step into Europe with a patched-up squad and little margin for error.