As usual, the BVB pros entered the turf of the Dortmund stadium about an hour before kick-off. For her, the inspection of the square is a ritual that heralds the warm-up. Also before the Champions League game against FC Copenhagen, which kicked off on Tuesday at 6.45 p.m. (Amazon Prime and in the WELT live ticker) and heralds the new season in the premier class.
But the players were given a very unpleasant reception in their own stadium. From the well-filled guest block, flares kept flying in their direction onto the square. The visiting fans also shot flares at the main grandstand and in the neighboring Dortmund fan block. BVB fans threw Pyros back into the guest block.
The Dortmund players weren’t hit by a rocket, but the police still marched to Copenhagen’s fan block. The heated atmosphere calmed down until kick-off.
Dortmund’s coach Edin Terzic is plagued by major injuries at the Champions League opener. He has to do without his regular goalkeeper Gregor Kobel because of muscular problems. “This morning the diagnosis came that he had unfortunately torn a muscle fiber. It’s a real shame, Greg was on a really good path,” Terzic said on Amazon Prime Video.
In addition, Terzic is missing three fast attacking wingers in Donyell Malen, Karim Adeyemi and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens. Bynoe-Gittens could be the fourth pro to miss most of the first series, alongside long-term injuries Mahmoud Dahoud, Sébastien Haller and Mateu Morey. He dislocated his shoulder against Hoffenheim.
However, there is good news from Haller. The striker will be in the stadium for the first time since his cancer became known. Haller is in the stands against Copenhagen, as Dortmund’s sporting director Sebastian Kehl said before kick-off. “He’s doing very well,” said Kehl. “He made a conscious decision to come to the stadium today, he wanted to be there.”
