BVB: Rose takes Haaland’s departure calmly

Coach Marco Rose from Borussia Dortmund takes the departure of striker Erling Haaland calmly. At the same time, the BVB coach explained why Marcel Schmelzer will not be used to say goodbye.

“Schmelle hasn’t been in team training for four months. Even if I wish him that and I know how much the fans want it, but there are also insurance issues involved. Unfortunately, that’s not possible,” said Rose: “But he will be at the stadium and it will be very special.” Schmelzer’s contract expires at the end of the season. However, the defender has not played a game since 2020 due to a knee injury.

Rose said of Haaland’s farewell: “We won’t stop playing football when Erling has left us. He gave us a lot of goals and energy. He’s now taking the next step and I wish him the best of luck.”

Haaland is moving to Manchester City in the summer. On Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the live ticker) he will be on the pitch for BVB for the last time in the home game against Hertha BSC. “We want to win our last home game. When the game starts, I expect everyone to do a good and focused job,” said Rose, who “doesn’t want to hand out any gifts” to departing players.

Should Dortmund win, the Berliners would still fall back to the relegation place if VfB Stuttgart were to win against 1. FC Köln at the same time. Rose promises the Stuttgarters full commitment: “It’s important to set an example again and fire everything out.”

In terms of sport, it is no longer about anything for BVB after securing the runner-up championship. The view is directed towards the future after the newcomers Niklas Süle, Nico Schlotterbeck and Karim Adeyemi that have already been announced. “What we’ve done so far helps us,” said Rose, who wants to “intensify the competition”: “I think we should make adjustments here and there. We still want to do something in the center forward area.”