Erling Haaland will almost certainly be in Borussia Dortmund's starting line-up for Saturday's big Bundesliga clash with leaders Bayern Munich, but will probably not last the entire match.
The Norwegian sensation came off the bench to score in last weekend's 3-1 win over Wolfsburg having been out for weeks with a hip problem.
"We all know that we have to be a bit careful," coach Marco Rose told a news conference on Friday, "Most likely he won't manage 90 minutes. For how long, we will see."
Haaland has scored 14 goals in 11 games in all competitions so far this season, with hosts Dortmund just a point behind Bayern. Only 15,000 fans are allowed in for the game due to new coronavirus rules. The tickets were snapped up in half an hour.
Rose is still without forwards Giovanni Reyna, Thorgan Hazard and Youssoufa Moukoko. Defender Manuel Akanji could hardly train during the week and midfielder Jude Bellingham has only just returned to training.
The mood in the camp ahead of the game is "naturally tense," Rose said. "Tomorrow will not necessarily decide the German championship, but it's a game which will give a signal and is a prestige match."
Bayern have won the last six duels.
"We haven't been successful for so long," added Rose, who however beat Bayern in both home games in his two years at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
"Now we have the chance again and we want to take it. We've managed to stay up there up to here. Now we have them in our own stadium and want to try to hurt them."
