Borussia Dortmund's pre-season tour of Asia begins with a friendly encounter against Thai outfit BG Pathum United at Leo Stadium in Thanyaburi on Sunday.
While BVB took part in their second friendly match of the summer on Wednesday, BG Pathum are now preparing for their first fixture of pre-season.
Match preview
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Borussia Dortmund kick-started their pre-season programme with a thumping 7-1 victory over the DEW-21 dream team a week last Friday, before being held to a 1-1 draw by German third-tier outfit Erzgebirge Aue on Wednesday.
Elias Benkara met Julian Brandt's corner to head Dortmund into a 20th-minute lead, but after wholesale changes were made at the interval, BVB struggled to carve out clear-cut chances in the second half, and that proved costly as Erzgebirge Aue equalised eight minutes from time before holding on for a share of the spoils.
Despite being denied a win late in the contest, newly-appointed head coach Nuri Sahin claimed that he "saw a lot of good things" from both the senior and academy players that took part, and there were 'definitely positives' to take from his side's performance.
Dortmund are now preparing for their tour of Asia, with Sahin's 26-man squad jetting off to the Thai metropolis of Bangkok on Friday evening ahead of their first of two friendly fixtures on Sunday against BG Pathum United.
The German club, who finished fifth in the Bundesliga and reached the Champions League final last season, will face Shinji Kagawa's Cerezo Osaka in Japan three days later, before concluding pre-season with matches versus Villarreal in Austria and Aston Villa on home soil.
BG Pathum United, meanwhile, are getting ready for their first fixture since winning the 2023-24 Thai Revo Cup for the first time in their history, beating Muangthong United 1-0 in the final on June 16 courtesy of Teerasil Dangda's dramatic 98th-minute winner.
The Rabbit managed to end the campaign on a high and put aside the disappointment that they suffered in Thai League 1, finishing fourth and just three points behind the top three to miss out on qualifying for next season's AFC Champions League.
Manager Makoto Teguramori has since overseen a major squad overhaul at BG Pathum this summer, with 16 new arrivals and over 20 departures, and the 56-year-old is satisfied with the strength of his squad and the club's business thus far.
Teguramori is now focused on building up his squad's fitness and helping his players adjust to his tactics over the next fortnight ahead of their opening league fixture of the 2024-25 season away against Sukhothai on August 10.
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Dortmund's 26-man travelling squad to Bangkok does not include Giovanni Reyna, as he has been given additional time off after representing the USA at the 2024 Copa America earlier this summer. The attacker is set to link up with his BVB teammates in Japan, though.
First-team stars including Gregor Kobel, Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can, Marcel Sabitzer, Donyell Malen and Niclas Fullkrug, who were all away on international duty at Euro 2024, will all miss Sunday's game, while new recruits Waldemar Anton and Serhou Guirassy have also not been selected for the fixture.
Felix Nmecha and Soumaila Coulibaly both missed Dortmund's friendly draw on Wednesday due to 'individual workload management' and it remains to be seen whether they will feature on Sunday.
As for PG Pathum, Teguramori is expected to take a similar approach to BVB boss Sahin by rotating his team throughout the match, giving as many of his senior players a run-out in order to build up their match fitness.
The Rabbit forked out close to £700,000 to sign winger Jaroensak Wonggorn and midfielder Sivakorn Tiatrakul, who are both expected to feature in some capacity, as well as South African new recruit Lars Veldwijk.
BG Pathum United possible starting lineup:
Anuin; Channgom, Gomis, Ballini, Nonthasila; Kaman, Veerachat; Wonggorn, Dangda, Lorenzen; Fandi
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Meyer; Ryerson, Sule, Benkara, Bensebaini; Jessen, Roggow; Adeyemi, Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens; Haller
We say: BG Pathum United 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Even though Borussia Dortmund are without a number of first-team stars, Sahin still has a host of talented senior and academy players at his disposal. The German giants will be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top against their Thai counterparts and should have few problems securing a comfortable win in Thanyaburi.
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