Soccer Football - Champions League - Borussia Dortmund v FC Barcelona - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - December 11, 2024 Borussia Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck is stretchered off after the match REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
DORTMUND, Germany (Reuters) - Borussia Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck became the latest player to join the club's growing injury list after he turned his ankle in their 3-2 Champions League loss to Barcelona on Wednesday.
Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin, who on Tuesday announced that defender Niklas Suele would be out for several months and is also missing defender Waldemar Anton, said Schlotterbeck's potential absence would be a major blow to the team.
The Germany international was injured in the final move of the game after having headed the ball over the Barcelona goal.
As he landed, he badly turned his ankle and had to be treated on the pitch after the final whistle before being taken off on a stretcher.
"It would be a complete disaster if he was also sidelined," Sahin said. "I don't have a diagnosis yet but obviously he is completely dejected."
"I saw the images and they are horrible. We will have a sleepless night tonight and then we will have to see how it develops tomorrow," said the coach.
Dortmund, in sixth place in the Bundesliga, have been struggling with injuries for months and at some stage were missing as many as 10 players.
The defeat against Barcelona saw Dortmund, last year's finalists, drop to ninth place on 12 points with two matches remaining, with the top eight earning automatic qualification for the round of 16.
"I am fuming because we played well," Sahin said. "We have to win these games. We deserved more in the second half."
"I do not want to hear that we played a good game. There is no room for mistakes and we have to learn that. We keep up with these top teams but in the end I want to sit here and say 'we won the game'. That is the development we need."
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
