Werder Seek Revenge On BVB
For Werder Bremen, it was the kind of game that was best quickly forgotten. The 0:3 at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund on the fifth match day of the season was a match filled with individual errors, tough challenges and difficult questions regarding the sides own character. At the end of the night, the Green-Whites had no points, conceded three goals (Petric (2) and Klimowicz), a frayed Diego and a suspension for Leon Andreasen after he saw red. So, how should things continue in normal circumstances? Put the result behind them quickly for a start!! Werder did things differently though. The defeat appeared to release a new spirit throughout the team which had been missing at the start of the season due to the number of injuries. Thomas Schaaf’s men rose from the ruins of the hefty defeat to bounce back stronger than they’d been for some time and played out a stunning first round of games.
Just a few days later, it was no less than the mighty Real Madrid that got the first taste of the Werder revival and the following weekend, German champions VfB Stuttgart felt the Green-White wrath as they slumped to a 4:1 thrashing. The inspiration of the BVB defeat continued until the 16th match day when Werder lost in Hanover. The upward trend proved ineffective in the Champions League though, where too many new wounds left the squad too thinly manned.
Werder’s goal of consistancy
On Tuesday, 29.01.2008, Werder travel to Dortmund again for the round of the last sixteen of the DF Cup. Werder intend to prove to BVB that the dynamic taken from the 0:3 earlier in the season has not been interrupted all too severely by the winter break. “It won’t be easy to progress to the next round in Dortmund. After the last Bundesliga meeting, we have a score to settle”, explained general manager Klaus Allofs. Statistics are also leaning in BVB’s favour with two of three post war cup meetings going in Borussia’s favour (semi-final 1963 – 0:2, final 1989 – 1:4). The Green-Whites beat Dortmund to reach the quarter final stage in the 1992/1993 season (2:0). It would appear that home advantage plays a vital role when these two meet in the cup. In the Bundesliga, BVB have won 22 of their 40 games at home, in Bremen the Black and Yellows have suffered defeat in 28 0f the 39 clashes. On the positive side for Werder, they have been successful in three of their last five visits to Dortmund.
Dortmund’s gigantic arena should, with its mere existence, have opponents quaking in their boots but last season, from seventeen games, all three points only remained in Dortmund on six occasions. From eight games this season, Borussia have won four, drawn two and lost two – hardly awe inspiring!! In recent years, the one-time ‘German-Giant’ has lost its way somewhat with the last four table placements being 6,7,7,9 this season they are currently in tenth spot. The win against Bremen had the opposite effect on BVB than the one it had on Werder. The following three games all ended in defeat and Borussia managed just three further wins by the winter break.
Bade and Rukavina instead of Lehmann and Hinkel
There was a brooding dissatisfaction in and around the Signal-Iduna-Park and the plan was to buy big during the winter break. Unfortunately the clubs plans were scuppered by Andreas Hinkel opting to move to Glasgow Celtic and German national keeper Jens Lehmann deciding to battle on at Arsenal in London. Marc Ziegler will now cover for the injured Romas Weidenfeller between the posts and the new signings haven’t yet made names for themselves. Mat Hummels (FC Bayern, defence), Antonio Rukavina (Partizan Belgrade, right full-back) and Alexander Bade (SC Paderborn, keeper) have made their way to Dortmund but so far only Rukavina has managed to impress. Borussia have played five friendly games during the winter break and lost just one – an upward trend?
The motto in Dortmund for the clash with Werder is ‘Brevity and simplicity’, but it could be personnel problems that play the deciding role. Jakub Blaszczykowski will miss out with a muscular injury whilst top scorer Mladen Petric (8 goals) and striker Alexander Frei look unlikely to be involved. The situation means that ex-Werder striker Nelson Valdez will be on the hunt to score against his former club. So far Dortmund have knocked FC Magdeburg (4:1) and Eintracht Frankfurt (2:1) out of the competition.
