Tuchel hints that Aubameyang was suspended for Sporting match

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was mysteriously not selected by Thomas Tuchel for Dortmund’s Champions League match with Sporting CP. This sparked speculation that eventually turned to confusion when Tuchel spoke to Sky before the game.

Why leave your best player out of a crucial European match?

The following is relayed from German TV by /u/edword on /u/borussiadortmund.

Tuchel and Watzke were both just asked on german Pay TV channel Sky about the Auba situation. While Watzke basically didn't say a word, Tuchel (surprisingly) told a bit more. Although saying "intern is intern", he didn't deny it was a suspension, and when asked about the duration of it, he said "until tomorrow".

Personally, I think it's pretty obvious that this was disciplinary.

ESPN FC quotes Tuchel as saying "We totally expect there to be a lot of speculation now, but internal means internal."

Dortmund ended up winning 1-0 without Auba, and Adrian Ramos of all people stepped up in his absence with a goal. Ramos’ 12th minute header was the only goal of the match.

It appears like Auba’s suspension will only be a one game thing, and ends tomorrow with training. That would make it seem like a minor transgression. Hopefully that’s the case and there aren’t any lingering or further issues between Aubameyang and management.

We’ll see if Auba is back on Thomas Tuchel’s good-side when Dortmund take on Hamburg on Saturday.