Screw the intro, let’s deal with the elephant in the room right away. Borussia Dortmund have a monumental match against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. The result of tomorrow’s match is not important. The Bundesliga title race is over and the race for the top four/five is over. While it’s always nice to sit down and watch some entertaining football, with the possibility of European glory on the horizon, a glorified friendly against Augsburg is hard to get too worked up about.

That being said, with the need for so much rotation, this could be a very interesting watch. If Edin Terzic rotates properly, it could be an opportunity to see a whole bunch of youngsters on the pitch at once, including, reportedly, Kjell Wätjen. From that standpoint, it will still be worth tuning in, even just to check in on the club’s most promising prospects.

Player to Watch: Ermedin Demirovic

Technically, the player I’m most concerned about is Kevin Mbabu strictly because he leads Augsburg in tackles and fouls/90, but if this were a normal match, Demirovic would undoubtedly be the player to watch. Demirovic is fifth in the Bundesliga in total goal contributions, with 15 goals and nine assists. That includes this goal in the reverse fixture last fall, in which he bodied off Nico Schlotterbeck before charging in on goal and scoring:

Predicted Lineup

Dortmund should enter this match with one goal and one goal only: to avoid, at all costs, any unnecessary wear or tear on any of its key players ahead of the second leg of the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. Because of this, the squad should be rotated to the fullest extent possible. This lineup represents the extreme of this:

Due to injuries, several players who are likely to start on Tuesday will also need to play tomorrow, but they could potentially be rotated out. According to Ruhr Nachrichten, tomorrow should see the Bundesliga debut of Kjell Wätjen, a young midfielder who has played quite well with the BVB youth sides. Also, given the news of Marco Reus’s pending departure, I would like to see him start as well, especially if he doesn’t factor into Terzic’s plans for Tuesday.

I really just want everyone to stay healthy and not tire themselves out too much.

Score Prediction

Augsburg are theoretically still fighting for a Europa League spot, so I think they will come out on top.

Borussia Dortmund 1-2 Augsburg

FC Augsburg

Match Preview: Borussia Dortmund Look to Stay Fit and Healthy Against Augsburg