BERLIN, October 31-Germany international Kevin Grosskreutz insists Borussia Dortmund can bounce back from their Bundesliga nightmare — starting with Saturday’s clash at league leaders Bayern Munich.
“We will show again what we can do. And we want to start in Munich,” said Grosskreutz.
Bayern host Dortmund with the teams having shared the last four league titles between them, but Borussia have been rocked by four straight league defeats — their worst sequence of Bundesliga results in 15 years.
Just two wins in their opening nine league games leaves last season’s runners-up languishing in 15th place in the table, a staggering 14 points behind league leaders Bayern.
But Dortmund have won three of their last four league matches at Bayern and Munich captain Philipp Lahm insists Jurgen Klopp’s side are still a “threat”.
To up the ante, Dortmund will have the worst start to a Bundesliga season in the club’s history confirmed by a fifth consecutive defeat on Saturday.
Bayern hope to include Dutch winger Arjen Robben after he missed the last two matches with a leg injury, while Dortmund are set to name Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa who has a 100 percent record in his four matches against Munich.
Dortmund-Bayern clashes have been dubbed Germany’s ‘Klassiker’ in recent years, but Borussia coach Klopp is currently in the biggest crisis of his six-year reign.
He has refused to make any bold declarations ahead of the Munich clash, even though Dortmund trounced last season’s champions 3-0 on their last visit to the Bavarian capital in April when Pep Guardiola’s side had already won the title.
“We’re not entitled to anything at the moment, but we will try everything,” said Klopp.
There is bad blood between Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Dortmund with the Bavarian giants reported to be interested in signing Dortmund’s Germany winger Marco Reus.
Bayern have signed both World Cup winner Mario Goetze and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski from Dortmund in the last two seasons and Rummenigge has said he is fully aware Reus has a release clause in his contract.
“He could have just said nothing, but that is not his personal style, and so he just goes on and on,” complained Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.
Second-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach host Hoffenheim, who are fourth, on Sunday in a meeting between two of the league’s three remaining unbeaten teams.
Gladbach can match their 17-game unbeaten record from 1970/71 by avoiding defeat, while Hoffenheim are reaping the reward for rebuilding their squad over the summer and are proving to be a hard team to break down.
On Friday, ex-Chelsea coach Roberto di Matteo attempts to claim his third win in four matches since taking charge of Schalke when they host mid-table Augsburg.
Fixtures (1430 GMT unless stated)
Friday
Schalke 04 v Augsburg
Saturday
Mainz 05 v Werder Bremen, Hanover 96 v Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart v VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburg v Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (1730)
Sunday
Borussia Moenchengladbach v Hoffenheim, Cologne v Freiburg, Paderborn v Hertha Berlin
