64 points after 27 match days - and still just a faint hope to win the Championship: Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels (27) also has a bit of a hard time dealing with this situation. He states why BVB aren't closer to FC Bayern - and how astonishingly early he already knew that they would come in second this season.

„Boy oh boy, we could actually go down.“ Mats Hummels also had to think about that possibility last season. In Juergen Klopp's last year as BVB Head Coach the World Champion experienced a "real hard-hitting extreme situation, a mixture between bad luck and lack of confidence, " as he states on the DFB website. But even then he could foresee an unexpected fate at a remarkably early stage.

Hummels said: "we knew at the end of the second half of the season and by the latest when we had finished our preparations for the season that we would be at least the second strongest team in Germany this year." And that is just what happened: Borussia has 16 points more than third placed Hertha and two more points than at the same stage of season 2010/11, when they won the Championship. If only Bayern wouldn't be there.

„Bayern have made even less mistakes“

Hummels added: "we are playing at absolute Champions level, but Bayern has made even less mistakes this season." His explanation regarding the five point gap they trail Bayern by: "we are still suffering for the ten days we had in September and October, when we lost seven points within three games (1:1 in Hoffenheim, 2:2 against Darmstadt, 1:5 in Munich). That is why it is far more likely that we will win titles in the two Cup competitions than in the Championship."

Hummels, who is the third best defender in the current season with a kicker average grade of 2.96, has also found back to his own best form again and apart from a brief problem with his hip, he has stayed free from injury. And this also has something to do with England, who are playing against Germany in a friendly on Saturday (20:45 hrs) in Berlin.

England 2013, „that taught me a lesson“

In November 2013 he returned from a friendly match at Wembley with what they call "an osseous avulsion to the heel": He was out for the first half of the season: "I was supposed to have a break on that day, but I really wanted to play at least one half. Playing against England at Wembley - that was a childhood dream", Hummels reminisces: "and then I got injured and after that I was out for three months. That really taught me a lesson." 

Since then "I listen to my body much more. If I get a warning message from my body, I don't ignore it anymore. Then I will let people know. I am actually inclined to always want to play. But because of this injury in England I learned to be more sensible. And that is important." Source: kicker.de