BVB news: Can left out of CL squad, Nwaneri set to debut, Kovac eyes record
News summary
Emre Can is not in Borussia Dortmund's Champions League squad. He tore a cruciate ligament in the spring and has not played since.
Giannis Konstantelias and Jefferson Lerma have also been left off the list.
However, the Champions League list that Dortmund sent to UEFA on Friday does include Nico Schlotterbeck and the new loan signing from Arsenal, Ethan Nwaneri.
Villarreal come to Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday for the opening league-phase game. Dortmund beat Villarreal 4-0 in last season's competition and will be confident that they can make a fast start in this Champions League campaign.
Solo running on the pitch at Brackel is as far as Schlotterbeck has got, but Kovac hopes to have him back in team training within a fortnight and wants no setbacks along the way.
Ramy Bensebaini is closer to the team, too. He trained with the first team on Friday, his first session since a rib injury. Enzo Duarte and Mussa Kaba trained lightly too. Kovac counts neither as an option yet.
Transfer news
A January recall option sits in Ethan Nwaneri's loan agreement. Sky Deutschland treat it as a clause that Arsenal would not let drop, given how few attackers they have themselves.
Dortmund paid a loan fee and took on the wages, but Fabrizio Romano says the fee returns to Dortmund if Arsenal recall him.
Arsenal must also give fair warning. That could leave Dortmund hunting for a replacement in the winter transfer window, which is a notoriously difficult time to do business.
Dortmund looked at Marcel Reguła of Zagłębie Lubin in the summer and could go back once the January window opens. The German market shut on the 1st September.
In Sinsheim on Saturday
Beating Hoffenheim would take Kovac past the 106 points Lucien Favre managed in his first 50 Bundesliga matches in charge.
Hoffenheim lost at Köln and are still without a point. Saturday's 15:30 kick-off in Sinsheim is their first home game of the campaign.
Andrej Kramaric has a good record against BVB. Kramaric has scored 11 times against Dortmund, one fewer than he has managed against Hertha Berlin.
Two of those came from the spot in last season's meeting in Sinsheim. The winner came very late on, in the 98th minute.
BVB Buzz opinion
Dortmund are absolutely correct not to waste a Champions League squad slot by registering Emre Can. The squad list could look very different in January when it is revised for the knockout stages, should BVB progress.
Emre Can is not finished with this competition, but getting back to the level he reached before sustaining the injury will be a terribly difficult challenge.
Kovac's European midfield now leans on Felix Nmecha and Joey Veerman. Nwaneri gives him one more attacking option, for now.
Nwaneri's Ligue 1 loan at Marseille produced two goals in 322 minutes at an average rating of 6.6. Dortmund are backing a settled run of form to change that.
