Mainz vs Borussia Dortmund - Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel braced for emotional Mainz return

Posted Thursday, October 15, 2015 by PA

Thomas Tuchel expects an emotional return to Mainz when he leads his Borussia Dortmund side out at his former side on Friday night.

Tuchel was in charge of Mainz for six years before resigning a year ago and taking a season-long break from the game.

"Mainz is almost a second home to me," Tuchel said at a press conference on Thursday. "It was a time which moulded me, also with the birth of my two children.

"Sporting-wise and professionally it was an extraordinary time. To go back there, to play there and stay in a hotel there is going to feel a bit strange for me.

"During my sabbatical year, I chose to remain living there."

Tuchel comes up against a man he talked into getting a job at Mainz, Martin Schmidt.

"We pushed to get Martin into our youth set-up in Mainz because we were convinced of his abilities," Tuchel added.

"He had always managed to get the absolute best from everything he had done, so we asked him to come and had a great relationship."

That friendship will be put to one side on Friday, with both teams desperate for a win, Dortmund after seeing their unbeaten start to the season ended by Bayern Munich and Mainz to build on a victory over Darmstadt which saw them climb to eighth before the international break.

"Thomas is the man who taught me all about the Bundesliga," said Schmidt. "He's incredibly knowledgeable and I learnt a great deal from him.

"I'm looking forward to seeing him again, but our focus is totally on the sporting aspect this week and nothing is distracting us. We are 100 per cent ready."

Elkin Soto, Niki Zimling, Henrique Sereno or Fabian Frei will all miss out for the hosts due to injury.

Marcel Schmelzer is sidelined for Dortmund, but Nuri Sahin and Erik Durm are both in training and able to be part of the squad.