Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Borussia Dortmund cancel friendly vs. Zwickau due to lack of players

Borussia Dortmund have postponed their friendly at FSV Zwickau on Sunday as they do not feel they can "name a strong team."

Dortmund were scheduled to meet their twin-town club Zwickau just one day after their DFB Pokal tie at Rielasingen-Arlen on Saturday.

However, the Bundesliga side have opted to cancel the match for now and rearrange it to a time when they can bring bigger names to the third-tier club.

Ousmane Dembele, for one, is currently suspended after missing training on Thursday "without any valid reason" -- amid interest from Barcelona -- and is reportedly set for a fine in excess of €100,000.

"We feel obliged to name a strong team for this friendly, but can't guarantee that we'll be able to do so in the current situation," Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc told the club's official website, adding that they will face Zwickau "with the best possible team we have as soon as possible."

Dortmund currently have a 30-man senior squad, yet a number of players are currently unavailable or just returning from injury.

Julian Weigl, Raphael Guerreiro and Marco Reus are all currently working on their comebacks, while Marcel Schmelzer, Mario Gotze, Andre Schurrle and Shinji Kagawa only recently returned from injury.

Sebastian Rode is out with a muscle injury and Omer Toprak fractured his nose in a friendly last week, while Park Joo-Ho is no longer a squad option and Emre Mor is on the verge of joining Inter Milan.

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