Borussia Dortmund » Match Previews

Deutscher Fußball-bund Pokal: SpVgg Weiden

Travis — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:53:04 +0000

Today marks the beginning the great race for the Pokal Cup, well for Dortmund at least. Just to sum up the actions, and give you my reactions to yesterday’s official opening of the first round. First off you have to look at Wolfsburg, as did they put on a show. Granted they ought to have, as they played SV Wehen Wiesbaden, a team who just moved from the 2. Bundesliga to the 3rd. I believe Wolfsburg’s performance was by far the most impressive of the Bundesliga 1 teams, as they proved that they are prepared to defend their title. But my favorite was Mainz 05 vs VfB Lübeck. Lübeck came out and matched the Bundesliga’s team, and then in extra time they took advantage of their opportunities. Congratulations to VfB Lübeck, a regional team sneaking in a win against a Bundesliga 1 team.

Now onto the good stuff, Borussia Dortmund 09 vs SpVgg Weiden.

Hopefully we avoid the fate of Mainz 05, and take it too Weiden. What we should see is a solid attack, or at the least, an attempt. Unfortunately the team captian, Sebastian Kehl, will be sitting this one out, but the Schwarzgelben should be alright with out him. Hopefully we can see some production from Valdez and Zidan, but ultimately what we should be hoping for is a strong performance from our newly aquired strikers. Obviously we are all hoping that Lucas Barrios (#18) will prove to the world that his accomplishments in the Chilean League were no hoax, and his ability to score helps BVB claim victory. Another player, who should have a chance to shine in Dortmund is former Energie Cottbus player, Dimitar Rangelov. Rangelov made 43 appearances for Cottbus and scored a total of 18 goals and 3 assists. Hopefully he can produce better results with Dortmund, and he should, now that his supporting cast is improved.

The match begins at 15:30 (+1 GMT) and let’s hope for the best.

Westfalenstadion to host Hamburg

Steven — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:40:45 +0000

The English (I mean German) Bundesliga is back in action today, with Dortmund looking to get back on the winning track against Hamburg.

Last Saturday, we lost 3-2 at Hertha. But today we welcome HSV to the Westfalenstadion, where we recently beat Werder Bremen by a resounding 3-0 scoreline. A win here would do us wonders, as we would move back up to the upper echelon of the table.

According to Thomas Doll, the Dortmund players are “fit as fiddle”, so we shouldn’t worry about them being unprepared. Hopefully he’s right. It will certainly take lots of energy and effort to contain Rafael van der Vaart. If we aren’t able to do that, it could be a long match for us.

Matchday 2: Schalke 04 vs. Borussia Dortmund

Steven — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:40:33 +0000

There is no need for an introduction to this one. It may be early in the season, but it’s still the derby. Schalke will be looking for revenge from the last match and we’ll be looking to get back on track after the Duisburg Debacle.

As I stated here, Sebastian Kehl and Philipp Degen will both be out for the match. Losing Degen doesn’t bother me (in fact, I’m kind of glad he won’t be playing!), but losing Kehl certainly does bother me. I’ll put my money on Florian Kringe taking his spot.

Well, no more words or previews are necessary. Get it done, Dortmund. Beat Schalke.

Matchday 1: Dortmund vs. Duisburg

Steven — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:54:43 +0000

It’s here. The Bundesliga finally kicks off the new season this weekend and Dortmund gets things underway in a “minor” Ruhr derby against new boys MSV Duisburg. Kickoff is set for 5:00 PM German time, meaning US viewers can see it at 11:00 AM EST/10:00 AM CST.

Sizing up Duisburg

The Zebras have had a pretty solid offseason, both in friendlies results and new acquisitions. They’ve signed Fernando Santos and Maicon Thiago Pereira da Souza, a Brazilian defender and midfielder, respectively. According to the club, they “are not well known yet, but are jewels we will need to stay in the Bundesliga”.

Other new Zebras include striker Mannaseh Ishiaku and prize signing Ailton. All in all, 12 new players have been brought in to ensure Duisburg are competitive.

And competitive they have been (in preseason, atleast). Highlights of their pre-Bundesliga warmups include a 2-1 win over Dutch Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven, as well as a 4-0 win over Babelsberg in the DFB Cup.

Keys to victory
Offense
Get Kuba involved
Petric-Klimowicz-Smolarek connection

Defense
CB’s — How will Wörns and Kovac work with each other?
Degen — will he look stupid out there again?

Outlook
This isn’t a game we should lose. We’ve had a pretty solid offseason as well, and the new players we’ve brought in should be able to see us past a tricky Duisburg side. I’m thinking we’ll win this one by either a 2-1 or 3-1 scoreline.

P.S. I’ll be out of action for the rest of the week. I know, I know. Bad timing, right? I’ll be back Sunday though with a full match recap. Come on, BVB!