Erling Haaland Suffers Injury Setback & Mahmoud Dahoud Ruled Out for Rest of Season

DeFodi Images/Getty Images
facebooktwitterreddit

Mahmoud Dahoud has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2019/20 Bundesliga season after suffering a knee injury, his manager Lucien Favre confirmed.

Regular central midfielder Axel Witsel was unavailable for Borussia Dortmund's first few games after the league resumed, meaning the Syrian–born German took his place alongside Thomas Delaney in the club's clashes with Schalke, Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich.

Dahoud impressed in all three fixtures, earning praise from his manager, but has since suffered a knee injury that will keep him out of action for the rest of the campaign. The injury is not thought to be long-term, but will still rule him out of his side's Bundesliga run in.

“Unfortunately, after Tuesday we learned that Mo Dahoud will miss the rest of the season due to injury," Favre said in his Friday press conference.

More bad news followed in the form of striker Erling Haaland, who Favre added will also miss the club's upcoming clash with bottom side Paderborn having limped off during the midweek home loss to the league leaders.

Injuries to both players will likely see Witsel or Emre Can return to the starting lineup, with the former making his return from injury as a late substitute in the defeat to Bayern. Favre may choose to field any one of his attacking players in a false nine role, with no standout striker available to replace Haaland.

Jadon Sancho could return to the side, having been on the bench for all three of the club's last three fixtures, with it likely Favre will shuffle his pack for the weekend.

Victory against the Bundesliga strugglers might have had more significance were it not for the home loss to Die Roten, as Dortmund's chances of winning a first league title since 2012 suffered a major setback. Favre's men now trail Bayern by seven points with just six games remaining.


For more from Ross Kennerley, follow him on Twitter!