The defender injured his right thigh after just over half an hour with the score at 0-0 and sat down in the penalty area. His team-mates quickly signalled that Mane could not continue. Coming on for the defender was Ethan Nwaneri (19), who was loaned from Arsenal FC a few days ago, making his Borussia Dortmund debut.
A longer lay-off would be doubly bitter for Mane. After all, he is among the winners of pre-season in head coach Niko Kovac's (54) squad and had been pushing to nail down a regular spot in the back three. On the opening matchday against HSV (2-0), he played 16 minutes, then stayed on the pitch for the full game in the 5-0 DFB Cup win over Hamburg Eimsbütteler Ballspiel Club.
Against TSG, Kovac picked him from the start alongside Joane Gadou (19) and Waldemar Anton (30).
Mane, who moved from Sampdoria Genoa to Dortmund in 2022, has repeatedly struggled with injuries in recent years. At Borussia Dortmund, he has already racked up almost 500 days out and missed more than 75 matches.
Who else is missing for Borussia Dortmund through injury?
With his latest setback, Borussia's injury problems have hit early again this season: On the opening matchday, new signing Giannis Konstantelias (23) suffered a cruciate ligament tear in the 2-0 win over HSV. Justin Lerma (18), another arrival this summer, is dealing with a muscle injury he suffered while playing for the Under-23s.
Meanwhile, Ramy Bensebaini (31) is struggling with rib problems. Added to that are long-term absentees Emre Can (32) and Nico Schlotterbeck (26), who are both currently still doing rehabilitation training.
IMAGONext up for Dortmund is a Bundesliga home game against promoted side SC Paderborn next Saturday. Before that, they open the new Champions League season on Tuesday evening at Signal Iduna Park against Spanish side Villarreal CF.