Manuel Akanji Injures Adductor on International Duty With Switzerland

With every passing day, Borussia Dortmund seems to sink further and further into an injury crisis. In addition to a slew of injuries to several key players already plaguing the club before the current international break, the past week of football has only seen the situation deteriorate. Earlier last week, Raphael Guerreiro, Thomas Meunier, and Thorgan Hazard missed international games due to injuries they sustained with their respective national teams. Now, Swiss center back Manuel Akanji can be added to the list, after he suffered an adductor injury on duty with his native Switzerland.

Akanji had to be subbed off against Northern Ireland after 52 minutes yesterday, and according to Ruhr Nachrichten, has been released from international duty for Switzerland. This means he will miss Switzerland’s World Cup Qualifier against Lithuania on Tuesday. With BVB’s next game against Mainz rapidly approaching, a center back pairing of Mats Hummels and Marin Pongracic looks more and more likely.

While every team deals with injuries, at a certain point, questions must be asked regarding the frequency with which Dortmund’s players are suffering muscle injuries. While we ultimately have no hard evidence that BVB’s medical staff is doing anything wrong, the sheer quantity of injuries suggests that it should, at the very least, become a topic of discussion, because it doesn’t seem that other clubs are facing similar situations.

With a plethora of injuries now plaguing the squad, Marco Rose will have his hands full fielding a complete team, let alone one that can compete for the title.