Five days after losing 0-1 to Bayern Munich in the top of the table clash, next up for second placed Borussia Dortmund is an away game at bottom of the league SC Paderborn on Pentecost Sunday. The story coming into the game could not be more different, yet the number of points to be awarded is the same.

"Six games that will be very difficult" – that is what Lucien Favre is expecting until the end of the season. First up is the match in Paderborn on Sunday. "We want to keep going as we have been in the second half of the season, as we did after the Corona restart, as we did against Schalke, Wolfsburg and even against Bayern," says Favre, who, like sporting director Michael Zorc, was not dissatisfied with the performance against Bayern. "Now we have to focus on the next game," says Favre. For BVB, it is about defending second place.

However, they will have to do without Erling Haaland (knee) and Mo Dahoud, who is missing with a knee injury that is not serious, but is also not short-term and will keep him out until the end of the season. "We have people coming back little by little," Favre said, "especially Jadon and Emre." The manager seems to be planning to include Sancho (for Haaland) and Can (for Dahoud) in the starting line-up.

The memories of the teams' first encounter this season are not entirely fond, as although BVB came back to draw 3-3 having trailed 0-3, it was still two valuable points lost. After that, "some trials were held within the team," Michael Zorc revealed today: "There were a lot of discussions with each other and with the coach." One of the things that came out of all this was a new system that has been applied almost universally since then. In the 3-4-3 formation, Borussia have racked up 37 out of 45 possible points in the 15 games since after the 3-3 draw against Paderborn. There were twelve wins, a 3-3 draw with Leipzig and only two defeats (in Hoffenheim and in the last game against Bayern).

It should also form the basis for a successful final sprint in the next six matches.
Boris Rupert

BVB TV:The press conference with Lucien Favre and Michael Zorc