Kovac defends Beier as Dortmund can go top with win at Union Berlin
Niko Kovac rejected criticism of Maximilian Beier before Borussia Dortmund's game at Union Berlin. A win would put Dortmund top of the Bundesliga for now.
Archive image · Photo: Sven Mandel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Borussia Dortmund visit Union Berlin on Saturday (1330 GMT). A win would lift Dortmund to the top of the table because leader Freiburg does not play until Sunday. After the 1-0 loss at Bodø/Glimt, forward Maximilian Beier was criticized for winning only 40% of his duels, according to 90min. Coach Niko Kovac pushed back: “That's too simplistic for me.” Beier did “well defensively,” Kovac said.
Kovac has an almost full squad. Only Emre Can and Giannis Konstantelias (both with torn cruciate ligaments) and Justin Lerma (thigh) are out, the club said. “We will have to rotate. Every single player will be important,” Kovac said. Serhou Guirassy and Felix Nmecha started on the bench in Bodø.
Union earned its first win of the season last time out, 1-0 at Elversberg, and is 16th. Dortmund said none of the clubs' 14 Bundesliga meetings has ended in a draw, with Dortmund winning 10 and Union four.