Terzic denies reports that Malen and Adeyemi are definitely fit for City
As his Tuesday pre-match presser, Borussia Dortmund trainer Edin Terzic denied reports emerging earlier in the day that Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi were fit in time for tomorrow's showdown against Manchester City.
The fact that Thorgan Hazard, Karim Adeyemi, and Donyell Malen traveled with the team to Manchester lead several footballing media sources to report that the trio would deficiently be fit in time to feature with the squad in tomorrow night's UCL matchup against Man City at the Etihad. At a Tuesday presser, BVB trainer Edin Terzic clarified the situation.
"They are both very close to coming back and moving into the squad," Terzic noted, "That's why they traveled with us.We have two more training sessions here on site now. Tonight and tomorrow morning."
"We hope that they will give us the thumbs up on Wednesday so that we can use them," Terzic continued, "We'll just see now how they move today and then how they react tomorrow morning. They've still felt pain over the last few days. It's been getting better, but needs to disappear completely."
Terzic naturally conceded that he had a very tough task ahead of him. Whilst serving as Dortmund's interim trainer during the 2020/21 campaign, Terzic twice had to square off against Pep Guardiola's "Citizens" in the quarterfinals. The team lost both fixtures 1-2.
"It's no surprise that they upwards 70 to 80 percent possession in their games," the 39-year-old said, "it's about what you do with the other 20 to 30 percent. The speed [of Malen and Adeyemi] is very important.."
Adeyemi continues to struggle with a toe-injury sustained on the Bundesliga's first matchday. Malen has been out with muscular issues since matchday two. Hazard's muscle strain saw him only miss out on the most recent Bundesliga match day's loss to Leipzig.
Terzic did not address Hazard's status.