By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Jadon Sancho might have missed some of the official announcements underlining his club's official strategy, such as not speaking about the possibility of winning the 2019 Bundesliga title. However, 18-year-old Briton may be excused as his German is still very limited.
"Of course we want to win the title, that is our main goal," the former Manchester City forward said ahead of the second half of the 2018/2019 Bundesliga season, with his side set to face RB Leipzig this Saturday.
But Sancho's statement is only seen as a minor lapse. "There is no reason to change our general approach as we intend to talk only about the next game. He might have missed something on that," Dortmund's sports director Michael Zorc smiled, before making clear that the Bundesliga leaders have to deal with other, more important tasks.
When the league's most successful offense (Dortmund/44 goals) crosses swords with the league's meanest defense (Leipzig/17), the Black and Yellows are not only worrying about their mental state, but about the growing number of injured defenders and the fitness of strikers like Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer.
"You get claps on your shoulder from everywhere after a satisfying first half-season," Zorc emphasized. "Your concentration might drop. It is one of the biggest challenges in sports to find your way back to focus fully on your goals."
The former midfielder said the team's challenge is to develop a new hunger and get back into the swing of competition right away.
Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre called his team "well prepared" to face "what is ahead of us. You might be surprised, but we are looking forward to it," Favre said, adding that his side has to be ready "to suffer."
Favre's team will have to live with change in defense, because Manuel Akanji, Dan-Axel Zagadou, and Omer Toprak are sidelined with injury. Despite rumors linking him with a 25 million euro switch to Paris Saint Germain, midfielder Julian Weigl will have to help out at the back alongside Abdou Diallo, who is returning after an injury layoff.
New signing Leonardo Balerdi has been allowed to attend the South American U-20 Championships with Argentina.
Favre said he is relaxed when it comes to 29-year-old German international Reus (11 goals) and the 25-year-old Spaniard Alcacer (12).
"Both are ready," he announced despite both strikers missing training sessions over the winter break due to injuries. Reus missed full five days of training, while Alcacer is said not to be fit enough to last 90 minutes.
But Zorc noted that opponents shouldn't forget about Alcacer' special skills. "After all, he scored ten of his 12 goals from the bench." Coach Favre added that Reus is "in top shape" and no doubts remain.
"We know about the situation in the league, we know about the challenges ahead of us and what is expected of us. But we will stick to our plan and stay calm and concentrated," Favre added.
