The Daily Bee (December 12th, 2018): BVB finish in first place and avoid tougher opponents in the CL

• Pulisic and Weigl will stay at BVB until the end of the season (Sport Bild)

A lot of rumors have circulated in recent weeks about possible transfers of Christian Pulisic and Julian Weigl in January, both have not been able to establish themselves as starters this season. Although both are still important parts of the team and discussions about their playing time, especially Pulisic’s (he played in 16 of 22 games this season and was injured for 5 of those missed games) have been vastly exaggerated.

BVB will need both players in the second half of the season, and Michael Zorc agrees:

“We will not sell any important players during the winter transfer window who is indispensable for us to reach our goals.”

About Pulisic in particular:

“I strongly expect Christian to still wear the BVB-jersey in February”

Borussia Dortmund are currently in first place and have a realistic chance to win the Bundesliga, not putting that at risk with pre-emptive transfers seems to be the smart choice.

• Champions League results and possible opponents

Borussia Dortmund have not only won their last match in the group stage against AS Monaco with a 2-0 scoreline, they have also secured first place because of Atletico’s goalless draw in Brugge. This means BVB will very likely have an easier opponent in the next round.

Dortmund have avoided Barcelona, PSG, Real Madrid, Man City and possibly Juventus (if they can secure first place today). Possible opponents for Dortmund are Tottenham, Olympique Lyon, Liverpool, AS Roma and maybe Ajax and Manchester United if both finish in second today. BVB can’t be drawn against Atletico or a German team in the next round.

Daily Buzz: The pots for the draw aren’t final yet until after today’s matches but out of the possible opponents Liverpool, Tottenham, AS Roma, Ajax, Olympique Lyon and ManU, which would be your favorite and which one would you like to avoid?