Dortmund emerged from a tricky Matchday 2 encounter against the record South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns with three important points that put the Bundesliga side within sight of a place in the knockouts.

Level on four points atop the section with their opening Group F opponents Fluminense, Niko Kovač’s men know that victory against South Korea’s Ulsan would take them through, but improvements will be sought ahead of BVB’s next encounter at the TQL Stadium.

“There’s still a lot to improve on, both for me personally and for the team,” midfielder Jobe Bellingham – who scored his first goal for Die Schwarzgeleben in the 4-3 win against the Sundowns – said.

Bellingham was one of three changes Kovač made to his starting line-up following the scoreless draw against Fluminense and while further tweaks may be made for the Ulsan game, none of the long-term injured trio of Emre Can, Salih Özcan and Nico Schlotterbeck will be available to the coach.

“It was important that we won against Mamelodi Sundowns and that we now put in a good performance against the South Koreans; we want to win this group,” forward Maximilian Beier added.

Ulsan’s chances of progression were snuffed out after they followed an opening-day loss against the Sundowns with a 4-2 reverse against Fluminense. Despite that disappointment, the Tigers’ coach Kim Pan-gon insisted his side will be looking to bow out on a high against Dortmund.

“We have no hope to go to the round of 16, but for our supporters, our fans, we have to fight until the end of the tournament,” the 56-year-old said.

The two-time Asian Champions League winners will draw some confidence from the fact that they led Fluminense by 2-1 at half-time thanks to goals from Lee Jinhyun and Um Wonsang.

However, with just one win from their last six games in all competitions, causing an upset against their opponents from the Bundesliga in Ohio appears a tall order for the five-time K League champions.

Dortmund won the 1997 Intercontinental Cup – the Club World Cup’s direct predecessor – by beating Brazil’s Cruzeiro.

Kovač also lifted the Intercontinental Cup, after starting the 2001 final for Bayern (1-0 vs. Boca Juniors).
Like his brother Jude before him, Jobe Bellingham scored on his first competitive start for Dortmund.
Ulsan are the only Korean team at the Club World Cup.

The K-League side are seeking their first-ever win at a FIFA tournament, having lost their previous six games at this level.

US international Gio Reyna and American youngsters Cole Campbell and Mathis Albert are part of Dortmund’s squad.

Probable teams

Dortmund: Kobel – Süle, Anton, Bensebaini – Ryerson, Nmecha, Groß, Svensson – Bellingham, Brandt (c) – Guirassy
Out: Can (adductor), Özcan (knee), Schlotterbeck (knee)
Doubtful: –
Coach: Niko Kovač

Ulsan: Jo – Trojak, Seo, Kim (c), Ludwigson – Lee, Jung, Bojanić, Ko – Um, Farias
Out: –
Doubtful: –
Coach: Kim Pan-gon

Bundesliga.com

Leeds United are hoping Lukas Nmecha can find the goals to help the club to safety in the Premier League this coming season. As a part of what will be a new-look attacking Leeds line-up, the Whites have brought in the former Manchester City academy graduate to swell their options up top.

With loans at Preston North End, Middlesbrough and Andlerlecht, before a move to Wolfsburg, Nmecha is already well travelled and the 26-year-old arrives at Elland Road with a wealth of experience built up despite still being relatively young in his career.

It was during Nmecha’s stop over at Anderlecht that he worked under now Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany. The fellow ex-Manchester City man spent a year under Kompany, with the player enjoying great success during that period. Nmecha played 41 times in all competition for Anderlecht, scoring 21 goals with three assists.

Describing the forward at the time, Kompany said: “He works hard for the team. Of course, he still has room for improvement, but actually he is already a quite complete striker. He does not have any noticeable weaknesses.

“At the moment he is already one of the best strikers in Belgium. In time he will be a striker for one of the European clubs who are just below the top or even for a top European club.”

Kompany’s prediction is about to come true with Nmecha now at Leeds, with Daniel Farke no doubt hoping he can help the player realise the potential the Bayern manager saw in him.

Leeds-live.co.uk

FC Schalke 04 presented their new head coach Miron Muslic on Friday (20/6). Frank Baumann, who has been in his role as board member for sport for a couple of weeks now, also answered questions at the press conference, touching on the decision to hire the 42-year-old, the decisions informing the club’s squad planning and the make-up of the squad for the new season.

Frank Baumann on…
…the decision to hire Miron Muslic:
The questions we asked ourselves were as follows: what fits to Schalke? What do we need in our current situation? What sort of football do we want to be playing, and what sort of players do we need in order to do so? When we were looking for a coach, we considered a wide range of skills, with a focus on certain key traits. With his methodical expertise, Miron brings something extremely important to the table in terms of the intense and aggressive style of football that we want to play. He also possesses certain character traits that can help us. He stands for a culture of high performance and is capable of inspiring and exciting people. He expects a lot from the players and the staff, but can also inspire them, which is exactly what we need.

He stands for a culture of high performance and is capable of inspiring and exciting people.

…the division of duties when it comes to squad planning:
During my official presentation I’d said that I want to have a strong leadership team in place in our sporting department, and we’re now very well set up with Youri, Ben and Miron. We want to be in agreement when it comes to our squad planning and transfers, in addition to presenting a united front to the outside world. That’s why Youri and Ben were also involved in our hunt for a new head coach. Youri is sitting up here today because part of his responsibilities include our first-team performance centre and our external communications. Ben is responsible for scouting, recruitment and transfers, and we communicate regularly.

…the shape of the team heading into next season:
We’ve got a clear idea of the individual player profiles we’re looking for, as well as the mix we want in our squad of leaders, team players and individuals who can provide that something special on the pitch. We still need to bring in some reinforcements at centre-back and are speaking to potential candidates, but I won’t be providing any current updates just yet.

Schalke04.de