Matchday 20 of the Bundesliga season will see a top match taking place in the 15:30 CET slot: when Borussia Dortmund travel to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, it will be second against fourth in the table.

But before the conversation at the press conference turned to Saturday's game, the 2-1 defeat against FC St. Pauli on Tuesday and the resulting elimination from the DFB-Pokal came up once again. "We're still really disappointed. Tomorrow will be another competition. It's not so easy to redirect our focus onto the new challenge," said BVB coach Marco Rose. He has recently spoken with the team about things "that we want to do better and that we have previously done better as well. We need to become steadier and more consistent. This has already been an issue for us for quite a while." 

Hoffenheim were also eliminated from the cup in midweek following a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Freiburg. In the Bundesliga, however, the Baden-Württemberg side have lost only one of their past eight games (away at Union Berlin last weekend) and are unbeaten in seven matches on home turf (six wins, one draw). "Hoffenheim are a really good team who deserve to be up there," said Rose, who went on to praise the opposition's strength, power and tempo. "They play good football, have a lot of options and quality going forward and are difficult to predict. We need to be prepared."

There won't be much in the way of personnel changes compared to the cup game. A decision as to whether Mo Dahoud can return will be taken after the final training session. He was able to complete elements of team training on Thursday. "The hope is certainly that he can be involved tomorrow," said Rose, who will still be without Emre Can. Gio Reyna could return after the international break.
Christina Reinke

BVB TV by 1&1: Press conference prior to the match in Hoffenheim