Borussia Dortmund have suffered another critical injury blow, as the news comes that Jakub Blaszczykowski has torn his cruciate knee ligaments. The midfielder played just one minute against Augsburg on Saturday night before being carried off the pitch. Reports on Sunday have confirmed he will miss the rest of the season.
The 28-year-old has made 22 appearances for Dortmund this season and was an integral part of Jürgen Klopp’s side. That’s yet another obstacle for BvB this season. Mats Hummels, Neven Subotić and İlkay Gündoğan are already out with injury. Marcel Schmelzer, Sven Bender, Sebastian Kehl and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have all missed a month or more.
Despite their injury crisis, Dortmund manage to finish top of a tough Champions League group, and, thanks to luck of the draw, will face Zenit Saint Petersburg next month in the tournament’s knockout stages. But the Bundesliga hasn’t been kind this season. Dortmund are currently in third, tied with rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach. They’re four points behind Bayer Leverkusen and thirteen behind first-placed Bayern Munich.
(READ MORE: BUNDESLIGA SATURDAY WRAP)
Dortmund are currently in third and set for Champions League play next season, but a few more mistakes like last night, in which Sven Bender scored an own goal and Augsburg came back for a draw, and they could find themselves out of the top four. Wolfsburg are within three points of the Champions League positions, Hertha Berlin and Schalke five, Mainz six.
The race for first in the Bundesliga may be all but over, but spots 2-4 may not be decided until the final day of the season. With such a tight race, the news about Kuba is one of the last things Klopp and Dortmund needed to hear.
