Lacking motivation? BVB drop duo from squad despite injury woes | OneFootball

Despite personnel shortages, Borussia Dortmund is leaving out two youngsters in Freiburg. Disciplinary issues and lack of training performance led to the clear decision.

For the away game on Sunday at SC Freiburg (3:30 PM), Borussia Dortmund is deliberately leaving out Julien Duranville and Cole Campbell. Although there were still spots available in the matchday squad, the two offensive talents did not travel to Breisgau. According to information from SPORT1 and kicker, the decision has clear disciplinary reasons.

The measure is remarkable because BVB is already weakened in terms of personnel. With Waldemar Anton, Aarón Anselmino, Marcel Sabitzer, and Julian Brandt all out due to injuries, coach Niko Kovac still decided against nominating the two youngsters – a clear signal towards performance and behavior culture.

As SPORT1 reports, Kovac had already viewed the commitment of Duranville and Campbell critically in the past. Duranville, in particular, was repeatedly criticized internally for not presenting himself consistently enough in training. Kovac recently had clear words: “We are at BVB, and at BVB, there are really good players. He is one too, but the others are better.”

BVB drops Duranville and Campbell from the squad

According to kicker, there was another incident with the Belgian: Duranville arrived late for the final training session before the Bundesliga game in Breisgau on Saturday. Campbell is also said to have shown a lack of enthusiasm in team training several times in recent weeks, instead of promoting himself in a challenging sporting situation.

This is not the first disciplinary incident for the American. Already in the winter training camp of 2024, Campbell, along with Paris Brunner, caused internal trouble when both left the team hotel unauthorized at night. Additionally, the 19-year-old expressed a desire to transfer at the end of November due to a lack of playing time.

Sportingly, both have hardly been able to recommend themselves so far. Campbell has only made one appearance in the current Bundesliga season, Duranville was only once in the matchday squad and remained without playing minutes.

The renewed exclusion against Freiburg is likely to further intensify the future question of both players. According to kicker, the current development makes a separation in winter more likely – especially since both Duranville and Campbell urgently need playing practice with a view to a possible World Cup participation in 2026.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.