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• Sahin enjoying more options as Borussia Dortmund injury list shortens

  Borussia Dortmund will have several players back from injury for their Bundesliga game against visitors Freiburg on Saturday, with coach Nuri Sahin relieved to have more options again.

  The Ruhr valley club have had as many as 10 players injured at some stage as they have dropped to seventh place in the league, 10 points off leaders Bayern Munich.

  But they will now have five players back for their return to action, including goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, as well as Gio Reyna, Julien Duranville, Waldemar Anton and Jamie Gittens.

  "After a long time there is more good news than bad news regarding injuries," Sahin told a press conference on Thursday.

  "I don't expect Gio and Duranville, for example, to be at 100% but the physios have done a great job.

  "So if they are in the squad that means they can play. I'm just happy to be able to take decisions. We can now take some nice decisions."

  Until the international break last week, Dortmund, who travel to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League next week, struggled with injuries and failed to win any of their away matches in the league, losing touch with the leading teams.

  Dortmund, who have 16 points from 10 games, will be without injured defender Niklas Sule and suspended captain Emre Can.

  "I had said we were running on fumes before the international break because we had to play with the same team," Sahin said.

  "I think we played with an almost identical lineup in five consecutive games. I hope that in the coming weeks we will be able to rotate more.

• Bayern focusing only on Augsburg amid busy schedule – Kompany

  Bayern Munich are only focusing on Friday's Bundesliga game against Augsburg amid a crowded match schedule in the next 11 days, head coach Vincent has said.

  The league leaders will be without midfielder Joao Palhinha and forward Mathys Tel, who picked up injuries on international duty with Portugal and France respectively, while goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is nursing a ribcage injury and is racing to be fit.

  Bayern have a busy schedule coming up after facing Augsburg, with a Champions League game at home to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday before the trip to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga in just over a week.

  They cap off their 11-day four-match run with the DFB-Pokal last-16 clash at home to holders Bayer Leverkusen on 3 December.

  "We are missing Palhinha and Mathys Tel also got a knock while with the national team," Kompany told a press conference on Thursday. "The one fear we have as coach is for players to leave and come back injured.

  "We are playing against Augsburg. It is important that it is only about the next game. We want to deliver the performance as we did before the international break. It is only about Augsburg and only this step is important for me today."

  Kompany is in his first season in charge but knows expectations are high, and the team must remain contenders in all three competitions going into the new year.

  "We're satisfied with the season we've played so far in all competitions despite the two defeats in the Champions League," said Bayern sports director Max Eberl, referring to their 1-0 defeat away to Aston Villa and 4-1 loss at Barcelona.

  "It is a new format and we're still getting to know it," he added, with Bayern down in 17th place in the play-off spots.

  "We have PSG which is a special game, Leverkusen in the Cup and Dortmund in the league. We want to start and win every single game. That is our starting point."

  Leverkusen won their first domestic double last term but Bayern, desperate to restore their national dominance, are undefeated in the Bundesliga and have quickly carved out a five-point lead at the top over second-placed RB Leipzig.

  The Bavarians have 26 points, with Leverkusen, who host Heidenheim on Saturday, nine behind in fourth. Dortmund welcome Freiburg, having dropped to seventh spot on 16 points, while Leipzig travel to Hoffenheim.

• Bayern finances could thwart deal for Leverkusen's Wirtz

  Bayern Munich's financial position could thwart a move for Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz, but the club are hopeful Jamal Musiala will pen a new contract soon.

  That is according to Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen, who discussed the club's squad-building plans in an interview with German outlet Abendzeitung.

  Wirtz has attracted interest from a host of Europe's biggest clubs after helping Leverkusen to an unbeaten title triumph in 2023-24, winning the Bundesliga's Player of the Season award after scoring 11 goals and providing 11 assists in the competition.

  Wirtz has four goals and two assists in the league so far this term, while only Alex Grimaldo (35) and Kevin Stoger (33) have bettered his 26 chances created in the Bundesliga and his figure of 3.9 expected assists (xA) puts him second to Grimaldo (4.22).

  Bayern's tendency to swoop for Germany's brightest and best has led to them being linked with Wirtz, but Dreesen says finances will dictate their ability to make a move.

  "It must always be in Bayern's interest to have the best German players with them," he said. 

  "But it is also true that Uli Hoeness always said Bayern must act in an economically sensible way. He would not agree with us if we did not observe both of his fundamental pillars."

   

  Since the start of last season, Wirtz leads all players in the Bundesliga for successful dribbles, with 112. Second by that metric by Musiala, who has completed 109 for Bayern in that time.

  Bayern are set to open talks over a new deal with the attacking midfielder, whose current deal with the Bavarian giants expires in 2026.

  "It's no news that we naturally want to extend with one of the top players in the world who is in our ranks," Dreesen said.

  "Jamal Musiala has developed excellently with us, he is a player who inspires the crowd, who creates a spectacle due to his individual class, who can turn a game around. 

  "I very much hope that these first really good talks that Max Eberl and Christoph Freund have with Jamal will ultimately lead to an extension. 

  "I don't want to put this in a corset in terms of time. The important thing is that it comes to that, even if it doesn't happen by the end of the year. Jamal Musiala is one of the faces of the future for FC Bayern."

   

  Dreesen is also keen to see Joshua Kimmich put pen to paper on a new contract, with the midfielder having less than a year to run on his current deal.

  "Joshua, who has a high degree of sporting ambition, knows which club he is in and what goals he can achieve here together with us," Dreesen said. 

  "He feels comfortable in Munich and is a very important player in this team.

  "We have already said publicly that we now want to start talks with him about a contract extension quickly."