Anticipation high for the start of the Bundesliga season

In two days, the Foals host FC Bayern München in the opening game of the Bundesliga season. Head coach Adi Hütter is already looking forward to his first home match at BORUSSIA-PARK.

During training on Wednesday, Adi Hütter drew a line under Monday’s successful start to the season in Kaiserslautern, while his full attention now turned to the upcoming Bundesliga opener against FC Bayern München on Friday evening (20:30 CEST). “We’ve had a good start. We did what we had to in the Pokal, but now it’s all about concentrating on the Bundesliga,” said the Austrian, who led another training session this morning, mainly focused on recovery work. “We got home at three in the morning on Monday, so some of the players still felt a bit tired. From tomorrow, however, we’re going to raise the intensity so that by Friday we’re at peak fitness,” emphasised Hütter, who is already hugely looking forward to his first home game in charge at the BORUSSIA-PARK: “Coming up an opponent like them straight off the bat makes it a special task. The fact that half the stadium will be full and we will have the support of our fans again makes the anticipation even greater.”

Hopes for Thuram’s return

It is not yet certain which players will be available for Friday evening’s game against the reigning champions. It is certain, however, that Manu Koné (MCL injury), Breel Embolo (thigh), Ramy Bensebaini (thigh) and Mamadou Doucouré (rehab after tearing Achilles tendon) won’t be in contention. “Ramy is still not taking part in team training, so there is still no possibility that he will play. Manu and Breel are even further away and need some more time. Denis is at least back in training after recovering from Covid, so the injury list is a little shorter,” Hütter went on to say. There is a small chance that Marcus Thuram could play a part after returning to training, having missed out against Kaiserslautern because of a knee problem. “Neither Tikus nor Jonas Hofmann have trained much with the team, but they are moving in the right direction and so could be potential options for the Bayern match,” said Hütter.