Borussia Dortmund with Malen and Haller in the base on the hunt for the national title


Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 2:32 PM• Jonathan van Haaster • Last update: 14:45

Edin Terzic has announced Borussia Dortmund’s line-up for the championship game against 1. FSV Mainz 05. Donyell Malen and Sébastian Haller start in the base the Boruses. Jude Bellingham and Marco Reus are sitting on the bench in Signal Iduna Park. The match starts at 3.30 pm and can be seen on via play.

The goal is defended as usual by Gregor Kobel, who sees a four-man defense posted in front of him. Marius Wolf, Niklas Süle, Mats Hummels and Julian Ryerson must stop Mainz’s attack. Grinding should take care of the danger from the right wing. The former PSV player is in an excellent phase with Dortmund and was named Player of the Month in the Bundesliga in April. Emre Can and Raphaël Guerreiro provide the balance in midfield. Julian Brandt is the most advanced pawn. Karim Adeyemi has to supply Haller together with Malen.

Dortmund’s quite incredible draws at VfB Stuttgart (2-2) and VfL Bochum (0-0) seemed to kill the club in the battle for the national title. BVB however, did not give up and saw to his great joy that Bayern Munich lost to RB Leipzig (1-3) last week. Dortmund therefore needs a win to call itself the best in Germany for the first time since 2012. Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (shoulder) and Thomas Meunier (muscle) are injured. On the other hand, the return of star player Jude Bellingham, who had to miss last week’s 0-3 win at Augsburg due to a knee injury. Dortmund have won their last 11 home games in the Bundesliga.

A big advantage for Dortmund is the fact that Mainz no longer plays for anything. The team of coach Bo Svensson seemed to be on its way to European football after an unbeaten run of ten games, but lost its last four games. Die Nullfunfer can therefore be found in ninth place, where they will most likely end up. Mainz has to do without attacker Ludovic Ajorque in the Signal Iduna Park, because he picked up a fatal yellow card in minute 95 last week during the 1-4 defeat against VfB Stuttgart. On the other hand, defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen returns from a suspension. Earlier this season, Dortmund substitute Giovanni Reyna decided the mutual meeting in minute 93: 1-2.

Borussia Dortmund line-up:Kobel; Wolf, Sule, Hummels, Ryerson; Grind, Can, Brandt, Guerreiro, Adeyemi; Haller

Lineup 1. FSV Mainz 05:Dahmen; Hanche-Olsen, Bell, Fernandes; Caci, Barreiro Martins, Kohr, Martin; Stach, Lee, Onisiwo

No. Team m W G v +/- Pnt
1 Borussia Dortmund 33 22 4 7 39 70
2 Bayern Munich 33 20 8 5 53 68
3 RB Leipzig 33 19 6 8 21 63
4 1. FC Union Berlin 33 17 8 8 12 59
5 SC Freiburg 33 17 8 8 8 59
6 Bayer Leverkusen 33 14 8 11 11 50
7 VfL Wolfsburg 33 13 10 10 10 49
8 Eintracht Frankfurt 33 12 11 10 5 47
9 FSV Mainz 05 33 12 9 12 -1 45
10 1. FC Cologne 33 10 12 11 -4 42
11 Borussia Monchengladbach 33 10 10 13 -5 40
12 Werder Bremen 33 10 6 17 -12 36
13 TSG Hoffenheim 33 10 5 18 -9 35
14 FC Augsburg 33 9 7 17 -19 34
15 VfB Stuttgart 33 7 11 15 -12 32
16 VfL Bochum 33 9 5 19 -35 32
17 Schalke 04 33 7 10 16 -34 31
18 Hertha BSC 33 6 8 19 -28 26