BORUSSIA DORTMUND BOSS Lucien Favre says the outcome of Saturday’s clash with Bayern Munich will not decide which club wins the Bundesliga title.
Dortmund travel to Munich with a two-point advantage over their title rivals, Bayern having dropped points against Freiburg last time out.
With only six games to play after this weekend’s match at the Allianz Arena, a win would be a huge boost for either side.
However, Favre expects a few more twists and turns before the end of the campaign.
“This game is very special: Bayern v Dortmund,” he told a media conference. “The table is close, seven games remain, and two great teams.
If we win, nothing is decided, if we draw, nothing is decided, if we lose nothing is decided…it is completely open!”
Bayern come into the game after a less-than impressive 5-4 victory over second-tier Heidenheim in the DFB-Pokal, and Favre says he has spotted some areas Dortmund can exploit.
“Like all teams, they do have some weaknesses,” he added. “Every team has that, even the best teams in the world.
“But [they do not have] too many, not many. And they have a lot of strengths of course, we know that.
“We have to concentrate on a lot of things.”
Sporting director Michael Zorc is confident BVB can go to Munich and get a result, particularly given they came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 in the first meeting of the season.
We showed that in the first match this season that we are able to win against them and can come back after a deficit,” he said.
“We had a look at the statistics since 2011 and we’ve won five times in Munich, including DFB-Pokal.
But the players from today don’t really care about the past years. We do need a top performance and courage to survive there, that’s for sure.
“So we need a top performance and one that is better than the one we showed last week.”
Favre will make a late decision on the fitness of Paco Alcacer prior to the clash, with Lukasz Piszczek also a doubt.
“It’s difficult to determine now, but we think there is a chance he [Alcacer] will play,” added the coach. “We will know more tomorrow.
“With Piszczek, we will decide whether he joins the squad after tomorrow’s training session.
“Abdou Diallo ran today as well, his condition will be decided tomorrow too.”
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
