“We’re ready for next week” – Dortmund defender upbeat ahead of Bayern showdown

Borussia Dortmund defender Filippo Mane says his team is ready for this week’s epic Der Klassiker showdown against Bayern Munich after wrapping up a long preseason campaign.

The BVB drew 2-2 with AS Roma in their last friendly on Saturday, fighting back from two goals down to narrowly avoid a loss and make up for a sloppy start earlier on.

Mane, who completed full 90 minutes of the game at Signal Iduna Park, felt they had more luck during Arsenal win but maintained that his team is girding up the loins for the new season in training.

“Maybe things went a little better last week in London, but even so, we could see that we’re really training hard and are on the right track. We’re already at a pretty good level, even though some players are new. But they still bring a lot of energy and quality—both with and without the ball. “
Konstantinos Karetsas made his home debut and turned in another fine display wherein he also helped create Dortmund’s first goal, while his fellow summer acquisitions Joane Gadou, Kaua Prates and Takato Yamamoto also got a chance to play in front of the Westfalonstadion crowd for the first time.

A poor start to the match saw Die Prussians concede twice in the opening 10 minutes as Paulo Dybala and Bryan Cristante gave the Giallorossi a comfortable cushion early on but the hosts showed great character to claw their way back into it as Julian Ryerson and Serhou Guirassy combined to net twice for the hosts.

Mane feels there’s still room for improvement defensively after conceding twice each against Arsenal and Roma as the side is otherwise good to take on Bayern in the Supercup.

“We’re ready for next week. We just need to work a little on our defense, but other than that, I don’t see that many differences between last week and this one. As for me, I feel like I’m in much better physical shape. I was able to play 90 minutes twice in one week.”
The 21-year-old centre-back enjoyed a productive preseason run with Dortmund this summer, playing in all five of their friendly matches as Niko Kovac perhaps sees him an important piece of their defensive puzzle.

He could be given a spot in the lineup in the official matches too until Nico Schlotterbeck returns from his injury, starting with Saturday’s curtain-raiser in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup.