Three areas where Borussia Dortmund need to improve

3. Getting new signings up to speed

With the exception of Groß and Guirassy, the summer signings have struggled to convince close to the season’s third month. Waldemar Anton has gotten off to an underwhelming start while Maximilian Beier and Yan Couto haven’t played as much as they would have liked.

As expected, the former Stuttgart captain usurped Niklas Süle to play alongside Schlotterbeck, but there has been a significant decline compared to the evergreen Mats Hummels. At 28, the centre-back is also not someone to patiently nurture for the future.

That can be said about the summer’s most expensive pick, though. Going by his excellent season with Hoffenheim, Beier has the potential to lead Dortmund’s attacking line for years to come. But, for now, he’s still looking for his first goal involvement with Guirassy’s magic forcing him to play on the right.

In retrospect, Couto arrived at Westfalenstadion with more weight on his shoulders compared to Anton and Beier. In half a season, Ian Maatsen played the role of an attack-minded left-back at a level not seen from a Dortmund full-back since Achraf Hakimi. The Brazilian has also not been helped by the fitness issues that postponed his first start till matchday five.

He has again been sidelined with muscular problems. Similarly, Beier returned from international duty with an illness. Guirassy, who has scored 11 goals for club and country in the past month, will start on Friday despite playing in another continent three days ago.