Borussia Dortmund - Werder Bremen's opponents on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. - have played another great Bundesliga season thus far and are worthy table-toppers. The reigning champions last lost on 18 September 2011 - a 2-1 defeat...
Borussia Dortmund - Werder Bremen's opponents on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. - have played another great Bundesliga season thus far and are worthy table-toppers. The reigning champions last lost on 18 September 2011 - a 2-1 defeat...
Borussia Dortmund - Werder Bremen's opponents on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. - have played another great Bundesliga season thus far and are worthy table-toppers. The reigning champions last lost on 18 September 2011 - a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Hannover. They are undefeated in the last 19 matches (15 wins, 4 draws) in the Bundesliga. They also are playing in the German DFB Cup semi-finals next week in Fürth. "We know that they play very good, that they push forward very quickly and are almost always present in front of the opposing goal," said Werder head coach Thomas Schaaf.

Schaaf: "We don't want to just let the game come to us"
The long-time injury to German international Mario Götze (pubic bone) has been compensated very well by Jakub Blaszczykowski. In the middle of the offense, the strong Robert Lewandowski (16 goals) has pushed last season's big goal threat Lucas Barrios to the sidelines. But still, Dortmund did not shine as brightly last weekend, playing to a 0-0 draw against promoted Augsburg. "We did not earn anything more than one point in that match. You have to pay your respect to the performance by Augsburg, who really defended passionately," said Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp to the German sports news agency SID. "You can tell how difficult it is to play consistently for so long. That was certainly not one of the highlights of our history. But we really fought for the point. The guys were really highly concentrated and made good on their mistakes with lots and lots of running." Dortmund were really impressed with the defence Augsburg played for 90 minutes against key offensive player Shinji Kagawa.
Borussia Dortmund are still five points ahead of Bayern Munich. "It depends on us," said Werder manager Klaus Allofs about how close Bayern can come in the fight for the title. But Bremen are much more interested in increasing their own point total. Schaaf said the game will depend on "what we do when we have possession of the ball. Our actions are important. We do not want to just let the game come to us but want to push through our philosophy. I hope that we can take strength and certainty from the Hannover match and play with enough courage to show an open match," said Schaaf.
