The mark of a champion is the ability to win under any circumstance. Borussia Dortmund proved exactly why they are German champions on Friday.
Against Bremen, Dortmund was under pressure from the get go. They took the lead somewhat against the run of play through a stunning goal by none other than Ivan Perisic. Shortly after the second half began, they lost Perisic to a red card. However, they defended stoically and tried to hit Bremen on the break.
They looked the more likely to score and doubled their lead through Patrick Owomoyela. Owomoyela played really well on the day. What will be worrying Juergen Klopp is that he will have to manage without Perisic for at-least one match. Perisic has been one of the best transfers of the Bundesliga season so far.
The win saw Dortmund go up to third, close to FC Bayern in terms of position but not in terms of points.
Speaking of transfers, when Ivo Ilicevic switched to Hamburg, he certainly did not have a relegation fight in mind. Nonetheless, he scored the winner against Freiburg to give HSV their second win of the season and Frank Arnesen his only victory as HSV head coach. He will go down as perhaps the only coach with a 100% win record in the club’s history.
Next week, Thorsten Fink will take over. Fink will have to find a way to solve the millions of problems that have characterized HSV in recent years and only he knows how he will help this team to not only survive, but finish in a respectable position in the table.
Each and every move of his will be scrutinized by fans and media alike. Of-course, the former Basel coach knows how to deal with pressure considering he spent a lot of his career featuring for a certain FC Bayern.
Speaking of pressure, Robin Dutt is feeling the heat at Leverkusen. Leverkusen was on the verge of losing to Gladbach but Andre Schürrle came to the rescue late in the match, in the 87th minute to be precise. Gonzalo Castro was sent off in that match for dissent and according to the club, will face ‘consequences’.
Schürrle’s direct rival in the national side, Lukas Podolski helped himself to a double as Köln beat Hanover 2-0. Stuttgart emulated the score-line against Hoffenheim. The result sees Stuttgart up to fourth with Bruno Labbadia finally bringing some consistency to the club. Shinji Okazaki has proved to be a wonderful signing. He scored against Hoffenheim.
Speaking of the fourth spot, Hertha Berlin finished fourth in the Bundesliga not too long ago. They were absolutely torn apart by Bayern on Saturday. They were 3-0 down after the first thirteen minutes. There is seemingly no stopping Mario Gomez, Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger. There is simply no stopping Bayern at the moment. The final score was 4-0. Manuel Neuer might as well watch from the stands the way things are going.
Speaking of Neuer, his replacement at Schalke had a torrid time on Saturday. Not only did Ralf Fahrmann get sent off in the 28th minute, he also injured himself in the process. Kaiserslautern also lost a man in the second half after the hour mark but won the match nonetheless.
Next week sees Bayern takes on Hanover. Schalke also takes on Leverkusen in what should be a cracker of a match.
They looked the more likely to score and doubled their lead through Patrick Owomoyela. Owomoyela played really well on the day. What will be worrying Juergen Klopp is that he will have to manage without Perisic for at-least one match. Perisic has been one of the best transfers of the Bundesliga season so far.
The win saw Dortmund go up to third, close to FC Bayern in terms of position but not in terms of points.
Speaking of transfers, when Ivo Ilicevic switched to Hamburg, he certainly did not have a relegation fight in mind. Nonetheless, he scored the winner against Freiburg to give HSV their second win of the season and Frank Arnesen his only victory as HSV head coach. He will go down as perhaps the only coach with a 100% win record in the club’s history.
Next week, Thorsten Fink will take over. Fink will have to find a way to solve the millions of problems that have characterized HSV in recent years and only he knows how he will help this team to not only survive, but finish in a respectable position in the table.
Each and every move of his will be scrutinized by fans and media alike. Of-course, the former Basel coach knows how to deal with pressure considering he spent a lot of his career featuring for a certain FC Bayern.
Speaking of pressure, Robin Dutt is feeling the heat at Leverkusen. Leverkusen was on the verge of losing to Gladbach but Andre Schürrle came to the rescue late in the match, in the 87th minute to be precise. Gonzalo Castro was sent off in that match for dissent and according to the club, will face ‘consequences’.
Schürrle’s direct rival in the national side, Lukas Podolski helped himself to a double as Köln beat Hanover 2-0. Stuttgart emulated the score-line against Hoffenheim. The result sees Stuttgart up to fourth with Bruno Labbadia finally bringing some consistency to the club. Shinji Okazaki has proved to be a wonderful signing. He scored against Hoffenheim.
Speaking of the fourth spot, Hertha Berlin finished fourth in the Bundesliga not too long ago. They were absolutely torn apart by Bayern on Saturday. They were 3-0 down after the first thirteen minutes. There is seemingly no stopping Mario Gomez, Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger. There is simply no stopping Bayern at the moment. The final score was 4-0. Manuel Neuer might as well watch from the stands the way things are going.
Speaking of Neuer, his replacement at Schalke had a torrid time on Saturday. Not only did Ralf Fahrmann get sent off in the 28th minute, he also injured himself in the process. Kaiserslautern also lost a man in the second half after the hour mark but won the match nonetheless.
Next week sees Bayern takes on Hanover. Schalke also takes on Leverkusen in what should be a cracker of a match.
