Borussia Dortmund's Oliver Kirch and Ji Dong-Won have been ruled out for eight and four weeks respectively.
After a relatively injury costless pre-season, apart from the usual knocks and strains, BVB have been dealt a blow ahead of their Bundesliga opener, against Bayer Leverkusen, on Saturday evening. Kirch, who Klopp described as undergoing "the greatest development of a 31-year-old I've ever seen.", had been used sparingly until last year. Once Dortmund's injury crisis took over, the midfielder became a crucial part of the team and played a magnificent role in the 2-0 win over Real Madrid.
This resulted in him being rewarded with a new two-year-deal, but his playing time will be limited for the opening two months of the season. A thigh injury is why the ex-Kaiserslautern player has been ruled out for eight weeks. A set-back that the side didn't need, with Marcel Schmelzer out for another two weeks with a hamstring problem.
New signing, Ji Dong-Won, has also been sidelined with a thigh injury. Ji, who scored with his first Augsburg touch against BVB, was brought in this summer. While it was unlikely that the South Korean would have started, but his excellent versatility across the front-line was a major factor in his signing. He'll miss four weeks of action, but Borussia Dortmund have strength-in-depth in abundance this year. This should mean that an injury crisis strike, hopefully not, the squad will be able to cope.