With two days left until the clash with Hertha BSC (Saturday, 15:30 CEST), Matarazzo was able to welcome back the players who have been away on international duty.
There are still doubts over U21 trio Roberto Massimo, Borna Sosa and Darko Churlinov, who have all come back with minor knocks and were unable to take part in Thursday’s training session.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Gonzalez, Lilian Egloff, Philipp Förster and Erik Thommy could all cross themselves off the injury list last week. “With Nico it’s a question of fitness, but he’ll be on the bench at least on Saturday,” said Matarazzo in his press conference. “Li is also back fully and is an option for the squad. Erik is in training but not in contention yet.”
Mavropanos will be out of action for several weeks
In defence, two other players will definitely miss the trip to the capital: Dinos Mavropanos suffered a meniscus tear in the friendly at SC Freiburg and requires surgery, which will rule him out for several weeks, while Waldemar Anton is out with a lateral ligament injury.
Matarazzo was full of praise for Saturday’s opponents: “Hertha are a good team with a lot of quality and pace in attack. Jhon Córdoba, Krzysztof Piatek and Matheus Cunha can be difference makers. They’re also tightly organised and can defend well.”
VfB will be hoping to avoid going behind in the opening quarter of an hour at the Olympiastadion, as they have done on all three matchdays so far. “It’s important that we play as a unit,” said Matarazzo.
