Adeyemi and VfB: Niko Kovač shares his thoughts | OneFootball

The chase duel promises a lot of excitement. On Saturday (November 22, 3:30 PM), Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart will face each other. Both teams have 21 points to their name so far.

When it comes to selecting his personnel, Niko Kovač (54) can almost choose from a full squad. Ramy Bensebaini (30) is still struggling with back problems, the BVB coach revealed on Thursday at the press conference before the match. Niklas Süle is unavailable. The 30-year-old defender is still suffering from a toe injury and "can't get into any shoe," reports Kovač. "Then you can't do your job." Otherwise, everyone is fit, he adds.

He likes the competition within the team. "Every single player is under pressure from his teammate," says the football coach. "We still have eight games until Christmas, and everyone will be important for us." Besides five Bundesliga matches, the Black and Yellows will play two Champions League games as well as the DFB-Pokal round of 16 against Bayer Leverkusen.

"I can understand why it's being brought up now"

Of the last seven games, Dortmund played six away. Now, finally, a home game is on the schedule again. However, Stuttgart has become a kind of bogey team after five consecutive competitive wins against BVB. But the head coach plays it down. "I can understand why it's being brought up now," says the Berlin native and sets the direction for the duel with the Swabians. "It's up to us to change that on Saturday. We've been unbeaten at home for a long time, and we want to continue that."

Kovač also comments on the Adeyemi case. The 23-year-old striker received a fine of about 450,000 euros due to possession of illegal weapons. "I'm not his father; I'm his coach. We have common goals. Every single person in this room hasn't always done everything right. Therefore, we should assess it properly," explains the 54-year-old. "I believe that he, Lars Ricken (49/Sports Director of BVB, Editor's note), and the colleagues from the national team have said everything about it. The focus is clearly forward."

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