BVB take on Werder Bremen on Friday: "We need to find solutions"
Two of the teams that won their first two opening matches of the campaign will be facing each other on the 50th anniversary of the Bundesliga : Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen who by the way also met 49 years and 364 days ago in what was the first ever Bundesliga game. While that match took place at Bremen´s Weserstadion, the 91st edition of this classic encounter will kick off at Signal Iduna Park on Friday night at 2030 CET.
"We expect the opposition to be well-organised and confident," said BVB coach Jürgen Klopp in the build-up to the game against SV Werder who seem to have rediscovered their defensive solidity in the last two games against Braunschweig and Augsburg (both 1-0 wins). And according to the Werder players, they will try to copy Braunschweig´s style of "keeping the sheet clean for as long as possible" (Cedrick Makiadi).
"It´s likely that the game against Bremen will have similar moments," speculated Klopp, adding, "So we need to find solutions. " And he counts on fan power. While acknowledging the fantastic atmosphere (created without the "Ultras") against Braunschweig, the Dortmund boss now called on the fans to rock Signal Iduna Park to its foundations on Friday night.
Klopp refused to reveal whether he plans to bring on fresh legs against Werder after what he called a "relatively short week". Sebastian Kehl is one of the players who could be rotated into the side, while Sven Bender and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are candidates to get a breather. "We said before the start of the season that we will have to spread the load - and also keep the players in rhythm. If all players keep their form up, we will continue to make changes," said Klopp who will only be without Lukasz Piszczek and Ilkay Gündogan (spinal compression) against Werder as Roman Weidenfeller, who had been down with a virus at the start of the week, returned to training on Wednesday.
While the fans at Signal Iduna Park will only find out the starting line-up when it is read out Nobby Dickel five minutes before kick-off (it will be published on bvb.de approx. one hour before kick-off), the players, usually know a day or so ahead of a game whether they will play or not. Klopp revealed: "On the eve of a game I tell the players who hope to play when that´s not the case."
Gündogan, by the way, could return from his therapy treatment with Klaus Eder in Donaustauf on Friday, even though Klopp made clear that it "is not a matter of today or tomorrow but of being completely pain free."