Borussia Dortmund have announced their lineup for today's preseason friendly against AS Roma as several first-team stars make the cut.
Head coach Niko Kovac has named a strong XI with first-choice goalkeeper Gregor Kobel featuring for the first time since returning from World Cup.
Julian Ryerson is also in the starting XI while Serhou Guirassy has been reinstated in the lineup after starting the last two friendlies from the bench.
Summer signing Konstantinos Karetsas gears up for his home debut after an explosive first appearance against Arsenal that resulted in a fabulous strike too.
Austrian midfielder Marcel Sabitzer is among the substitutes once again while Filippo Mane retains his place in defense.
The club also revealed that Waldemar Anton, who missed the Arsenal fixture with workload management, is out again while Maximilian Beier is nursing a knee issue.
Carney Chukwuemeka also has muscular problems and hasn't made it to the matchday squad like the other two.
Today's fixture marks the last friendly for Dortmund, who play at the Signal Iduna Park for the first time since the end of last season.
With the German Supercup against Bayern Munich coming up next Saturday, the BVB would be hoping to get a positive result from today.
Here's how fans reacted to today's lineup:
One X user was surprised to see Felix Nmecha don the captain's armband:
""I swear, Nmecha is captain again—I can't even.""
Wallah wieder Nmecha Kapitän ich geh ein
— Lona (@Lona_BVB) August 15, 2026
Another fan made a bold prediction for Konstantinos Karetsas:
""Now that’s an interesting design... (never mind, Karetsas hat-trick incoming)""
Das ist ja mal ein interessantes Design... (egal, Karetsas Hattrick incoming)
— Lemu Boss (@lemu_boss) August 15, 2026
This fan has his eyes on one notable substitute:
""Man, I'm really looking forward to Sabitzer coming on.""
Boah freue ich mich auf die Sabitzer-Einwechslung😍😍😍
— BVB1909 (@BVB_infos_1909) August 15, 2026
Another fan felt the lineup is strong enough to play against Bayern next week:
""You could almost start in the cup with a lineup like that.""
So könnte man fast schon im Pokal starten. pic.twitter.com/L71uoSdOZd
— A Citizen of Earth 📯 (@Sascha1982wtal) August 15, 2026
This fan made an observation about the graphics used to announce the lineup:
""Eww, what kind of graphics are those?""
ihhh was das für nh grafik
— Jakub 🇵🇱 (@LosT_Jakub) August 15, 2026
With Vofadone the new sponsor, this fan was puzzled to see someone else's name:
""Bwin gesponsert???""
Bwin gesponsert???
— Lona (@Lona_BVB) August 15, 2026
This fan left a cheerful reaction for today's skipper, Nmecha:
""Captain ❤✝️""
Captain ❤✝️
— reneeee ✝️ (@brandt_goat) August 15, 2026
This fan had a question regarding Anton's condition:
""How much longer do they intend to talk about "load management" in Anton's case? He was left out of the squad against Arsenal for the same reasons, too.""
Wie lange will man bei Anton noch von einer Belastungssteuerung sprechen ? Gegen Arsenal war er aus gleichen Gründen ebenfalls nicht im Kader.
— ++ BVB ++ News ++ (@Borussia0977) August 15, 2026
There was a query surrounding a youth player too:
""It would also be good if you could tell us what's going on with Dos Santos.""
It would also be good if you could tell us what's going on with Dos Santos.
— Daxo (@daxooo_) August 15, 2026
