Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp – and now Nuri Sahin: the coach of Borussia Dortmund has used clear words to denounce the ever-increasing burden, especially on the top players in football. “It’s a fact: This is hardly bearable, especially for the national players,” said Sahin before the Champions League game against FC Barcelona on Wednesday (9 p.m. / Dazn).
Sahin reported that he had planned the rest of the season, including the Club World Cup: “I don’t even know when Gregor Kobel, for example, should go on holiday. The boys come from the national team and have to deliver straight away.” His players come to the training center “and I immediately fill them with information about the next opponent.”
:Broken rib: Neuer is out until the winter break
Things now get even worse for goalkeeper Manuel Neuer: the 38-year-old suffered a broken rib when he fouled in the DFB Cup, which earned the goalkeeper the first red card of his career. Coach Vincent Kompany confirmed this.
On Tuesday, Sahin also announced that defender Niklas Süle had been out for months (syndesmosis). “It’s very, very bitter because we needed Niki very, very much,” said Sahin. Against Barcelona, coach Sahin will also have to do without playmaker Julian Brandt and central defender Waldemar Anton. It remains to be seen whether striker Maximilian Beier can play.
The “constant travel from A to B, from B to C” is just as much an additional burden as the development of football itself. “The game has changed completely, you have to push the limits in every game,” he said: “The strain on national players is far too high. You see that with all the top teams. Bayern, Barcelona, Real Madrid, you can go through all of that.”
However, Sahin is under no illusions. “It was not Pep, not Klopp who were able to change that after what they said at the press conferences,” he emphasized. “It is very likely that Fifa will not say: If Nuri Sahin says something, we will change that.” The world association is expanding the 2025 Club World Cup into a four-week tournament for the first time, two of the 32 participants are BVB and FC Bavaria. The Dortmund club boss Hans-Joachim Watzke expressly welcomes the new format – also because of the prospect of prestige and income.
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