Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that forwards Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will not be in the Dortmund squad for the club’s Wednesday night’s DFP-Pokal match against 2.Bundesliga side Union Berlin.
The Schwarzgelb have tasted victory just once in their last five matches across all competitions and have had to do with recurring injuries to key players so far this season.
“Christian Pulisic, Ousmane Dembele and Aubameyang haven’t trained today,” Tuchel told a press conference.
“Pulisic and Dembele are both ill and Aubameyang has a swelling in the calf muscles.
“And it will take several weeks, at least, for Marco Reus to return. But Nuri Sahin is fit again and Sokratis Papastathopoulos will be able to play.”
With so many injuries to senior players, Tuchel has decided to field young blood in the cup match.
“Our young players have earned our full support, but it will be a difficult game for us against Union.” Tuchel revealed.
“It’s our ambition to win the match. We want to get our fans behind us with the way we play.
“Generally, there is always a special atmosphere at our home matches. But we expect Union Berlin to bring a lot of fans. Hopefully they won’t crash the party.”
