Borussia Dortmund: Julian Brandt ruled out for two weeks with muscle injury

Borussia Dortmund will have to make do without Julian Brandt for the next few games after the midfielder suffered a muscle injury on Wednesday. 

Julian Brandt had to be substituted at half time during Borussia Dortmund’s win over Besiktas JK on Wednesday after suffering a muscle injury. Marco Rose has now revealed that the midfielder will be out for the next couple of weeks.

Brandt will now be absent for at least the next three games (against Union Berlin, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Sporting CP). Axel Witsel, who replaced Brandt at half time against Besiktas, could now come into the starting XI on Sunday. With Gio Reyna and Emre Can also injured, Borussia Dortmund do not have too many options in midfield at the moment.

But the Black and Yellows are set be boosted by the return of Thorgan Hazard, who is making good progress after recovering from his ankle injury. The Belgian international returned to training on Thursday, and could be on the bench for the Bundesliga clash against Union Berlin.

Marco Rose also gave an update on the status of Dan-Axel Zagadou during his pre-match press conference. Zagadou underwent knee surgery in March and has been out ever since. Rose revealed that the defender is on the right track, and he could be back in training soon if everything goes well.

"“I’m confident we’ll soon be able to slowly get him back into parts of the team training,” Rose said. “He’s working well, making progress. Maybe in 1-2 weeks he can join us in training again.”"

Borussia Dortmund will be aiming to continue their winning run this weekend as they host Union Berlin. They will then have a week off to prepare for their trip to Marco Rose’s former club Borussia Mönchengladbach.