Schlotterbeck to miss the rest of Dortmund's season through injury
Borussia Dortmund will have to navigate the rest of their campaign without Nico Schlotterbeck, who has picked up a season-ending injury.
Borussia Dortmund confirmed that defender Nico Schlotterbeck will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a meniscus tear in his left knee.
Schlotterbeck was absent from Dortmund's 4-1 win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with his injury coming at a crucial point in the campaign for BVB.
Dortmund are eighth in the Bundesliga table with six matches of their season remaining, and are five points adrift of reaching the Champions League places.
BVB are in action on Wednesday as they travel to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys to take on Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.
The 25-year-old has won 53 aerial duels in the Bundesliga this season, a total only bettered by Serhou Guirassy (92).
He also took up a peculiar role under Niko Kovac on set-pieces in recent weeks, delivering two assists from corner kicks in Dortmund's 3-1 win over Mainz last month, becoming the only defender to have done so in Europe's top five leagues in a league match this season.
"Nico's loss hits us very hard," Dortmund Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl said.
"He is a very important part of our team and has impressed with consistently good performances this season.
"We hope that he will be fit again quickly and will receive maximum support from us on his way back."
Kovac will now have to rely on Emre Can, Waldemar Anton, Niklas Sule, and Ramy Bensebaini to fill the gap at the heart of the defence left by Schlotterbeck for the run-in.