Tyler Adams will look to lift his first trophy in Germany next week, but first has to overcome an injury to play any role in the German Cup Final.
RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann confirmed Thursday that Adams will miss Saturday’s Bundesliga clash with Borussia Dortmund due to a back injury. Adams will be joined by Christopher Nkunku on the sidelines this weekend, as both players try to get fit in time for May 13th DFB Pokal, final also vs. Dortmund.
With only three league matches left in the season, RB Leipzig will try to lock up a second-place finish with a victory over the Black and Yellow this weekend. The German side will then prepare to face Dortmund once again in the DFB Pokal Final in Berlin, looking to earn the first domestic trophy in club history.
Adams has continued to play a vital role for RB Leipzig this season, seeing time recently at his traditional No. 6 position. The 22-year-old has made 37 combined appearances for the club this season, scoring one goal and registering one assist.
With only one week to go until the DFB Pokal Final, Adams will be keen on playing a part in one of Nagelsmann’s final matches as manager before he heads to Bayern Munich.
As for Adams’ USMNT teammate Gio Reyna, he returned to training on Thursday after missing out earlier in the week due to a calf issue. Reyna is fighting to play a part in both Saturday’s league match at Red Bull Arena and May 13th’s DFB Pokal Final at the Olympiastadion.
“He [Reyna] looks very confident,” Dortmund manager Edin Terzic said in a press conference Thursday. “He’ll be on the training field right away as well, then we’ll have another session today and tomorrow and then we’ll see if it’s too risky or if he can play.”
Reyna has totaled seven goals and seven assists in 41 combined appearances for the Black and Yellow this season, and is closing in on 3,000 total minutes played for Dortmund.
His inclusion would be a needed boost for Dortmund, who could be without star striker Erling Haaland through injury.
A Dortmund win this weekend would be good from a USMNT perspective. If we can manage Dortmund, Wolfsburg, and Leipzig in the Champions League next season, that would be three American players and an American manager from the Bundesliga at least (barring any summer transfers).
Though it would be far better to actually be able to _watch_ more than 4 (four!) games a year on TV, instead of having the vast majority of the Bundesliga preempted by garbage like talk shows, pseudo-sport entertainment, or boring college sports from obscure cities. If US soccer wants fans to see its good young players do well in one of the top leagues, they need to get the German league back on TV, not consigned to the same streaming wasteland as obscure leagues from places like India and Australia. If European soccer is more worth watching, it’s worth giving more air time to, to encourage more people to watch it and soccer in general. Especially when ESPN/ABC has several channels at its disposal and some of them are often showing sheer junk filler anyway.
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I was at least looking forward to one game featuring other good teams besides Bayern. Too bad Tyler Adams can’t play and Reyna is also a doubt. Maybe someone will think to interview Timothy Chandler, now that he seems to be on track for other work at Frankfurt as his playing career winds down.
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