Borussia Dortmund defender Niklas Sule will retire at the end of the season.

The 30-year-old, who joined Dortmund from Bayern Munich in 2022, has endured a career plagued by injuries.

Sule has suffered two Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries, and he confirmed his fitness issues played a big part in his decision to call time on his playing days.

Indeed, a knee issue sustained last month led Sule to make the decision to step away.

"I would like to announce that I will be ending my career this summer," he said on the Spielmacher podcast.

“What I felt when our team doctor did the drawer test in the dressing room in Hoffenheim, looked at the physio and shook his head, and the physio did it too and didn’t feel any resistance either – I went into the shower and cried for ten minutes. In that moment, I really thought: 'It's torn'.

"When I went for an MRI the next day and received the good news (that it wasn’t an ACL injury), it was 1000% clear to me that it was over. I couldn't imagine anything worse than looking forward to life – being independent, going on holiday, spending time with my children – only to then have to come to terms with my third cruciate ligament tear."

Sule last featured for Germany in 2023. During his time with Bayern, he won five Bundesliga titles, the Champions League once and enjoyed two successful DFB-Pokal campaigns.

Sule has missed 87 games during his time at Dortmund, featuring 108 times for BVB in all competitions.

Dortmund take on Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Friday. A win for Niko Kovac's team would be enough to see them secure second place.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Borussia Dortmund - Serhou Guirassy

Guirassy failed to register a single shot in his last appearance, against Borussia Monchengladbach, the third time this has happened to him while starting a Bundesliga game this season.

He had only recorded such a game once in his previous five Bundesliga campaigns. Guirassy has failed to score in seven of his eight competitive appearances against Eintracht, his highest number of goalless games against any Bundesliga opponent.

Eintracht Frankfurt - Can Uzun

Uzun has been directly involved in two goals in his last two Bundesliga appearances (one goal, one assist), having managed only one goal involvement in his previous 12 league games.

He made his Bundesliga debut for Frankfurt at Signal Iduna Park in August 2024 and scored a penalty against Dortmund in the reverse fixture in January 2026.

MATCH PREDICTION: BORUSSIA DORTMUND WIN

Kovac has collected 95 points in his first 46 Bundesliga matches in charge of the club, with only Lucien Favre (96) and Thomas Tuchel (99) managing more at this stage.

He has already recorded 29 Bundesliga victories as Dortmund coach, equalling his total from 77 matches in charge of Eintracht between 2016 and 2018.

Eintracht will be without defender Rasmus Kristensen, as the Dane received his first Bundesliga red card (second yellow) against Hamburg last time out. Since his Bundesliga debut in August 2024, Frankfurt have conceded an average of 0.3 more goals per game in matches where he has not been in the starting XI.

Frankfurt, who sit eighth, have already conceded 60 goals in the Bundesliga this season, their highest total at the end of a campaign since 2014-15 (62). Only Wolfsburg (67) and Heidenheim (69) have conceded more league goals this term, while Dortmund boast the best defensive record in the division with just 32 goals conceded.

Dortmund have lost three of their last four Bundesliga matches (W1), more defeats than in their previous 36 games in the competition combined (W26 D8 L2). They have failed to score in two of those four matches, having found the net in each of their 36 previous league outings.

Eintracht have won only one of their last nine Bundesliga meetings with Dortmund – a 2-0 home victory last season (D2 L6).

Frankfurt have lost 13 of their last 14 Bundesliga away games against Dortmund (W1), including each of the last four. Indeed, BVB have celebrated more Bundesliga victories against Eintracht Frankfurt than against any other club (51).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Borussia Dortmund - 60.1%

Draw - 20.1%

Eintracht Frankfurt - 19.8%