Well, the international break is now over, with many players feeling happy about their teams' performances, especially during the qualifying rounds for EURO 2016. As such, all of Europe's big leagues are getting underway, and the Bundesliga is certainly no exception.
Two of Germany's top teams will be in action this Friday and then on Saturday with the clear intent of hopefully being crowned champions this May. For one side, a win will be especially vital, especially after their 5-1 humiliation in Der Klassiker that was not just their first loss this season, but the heaviest suffered under their new coach. And for the other, they have an excellent opportunity to make it a historic nine wins out of nine as they hope to march towards what would be an unprecedented fourth straight title.
Mainz 05
Currently in a solid eighth place, today's hosts have won or lost exactly 50 per cent of their matches and will be coming into this game having won their most recent fixture in an entertaining 3-2 contest against newly promoted Darmstadt. It will also be a special reunion for current Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel, who was in charge for over 150 matches between 2009 and 2014, a record that makes him their longest-serving coach. However, as die Schwarzgelben are seven points behind Bayern Munich, don't expect him to show his former side any mercy as he hopes to close the gap on die Roten as quickly as possible.
Still, the visitors will have to be careful of Mainz as they lost this exact same fixture last season 2-0. Interestingly, it was the first time in in their past ten meetings that die Nullfünfer (the O-Fives) were able to get the better of their hosts. Prior to that win on September 20, 2014, they had lost their last six clashes and overall have a record of three wins, six draws, and nine losses. Interestingly, all of their three wins took place at home and they will do their utmost best to keep Dortmund's strong fire-power at bay this evening.
They will, however, no longer have South Korean international Park Joo-ho to assist them in defense after leaving for Dortmund this summer and he could be called to deputize in the absence of the injured Marcel Schmelzer. In attack, they will hope that free-scoring midfielder Yunus Malli will be on top of his game, as his six goals represent exactly half of his team's total of 12 so far this season.
Borussia Dortmund
Meanwhile, a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of bitter rivals Bayern Munich was not the way Tuchel's men wanted to experience their first Klassiker of the season. It was an even more painful loss for loyal Dortmund fans as two of their former stars - Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze - got in on the goal-scoring fun for die Roten. Although the free-scoring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang attempted to halve the deficit following Thomas Muller's brace, it was all in vain as Lewandowski and Gotze dealt the crushing blow with three combined goals in 20 minutes during the second half.
So far, both Aubameyang and Lewandowski have set a new record by becoming the first two players to hit double figures in goals in just eight rounds. The Gabonese international is also on an impressive scoring streak right now - as he has netted in every single of Dortmund's nine games so far this season and could make a tenth later today.
Interestingly, Marco Reus did not even start in the game versus Bayern and failed really to make his mark on international duty. Clearly, due to his injury woes, the speedy 26-year-old star is still struggling for form and fitness and will be keen to show his coach that he deserves to be a constant fixture in the starting XI with a better performance today.
It is amazing that Dortmund are now sans a win in their past four games across all competitions, especially given how they began proceedings with an impressive 11 match winning streak. With the gap already starting to grow between them and Bayern, a win today will be crucial as die Roten are expected to easily brush past Werder Bremen in Saturday's fixture.
Werder Bremen
For the hosts, who currently sit in 14th place, this could not be a worse time to welcome the reigning Bundesliga champions. Since defeating Hoffenheim back on September 13th, they have experienced the worst run of results since Viktor Skrypnyk took over, with four consecutive losses. And unfortunately, given the form that Bayern are in right now, that does not look to change - at least not this Saturday.
The last time Werder Bremen were able to defeat Bayern in any kind of competitive fixture was on September 20, 2008, when they crushed die Roten at the Allianz Arena 5-2. Since then, they have only managed three draws and have lost twelve, including the last straight ten. For one player, it will be an emotional reunion as he departed Bayern for Werder earlier this summer: veteran striker Claudio Pizarro, who spent two seasons with the Bavarian titans is now back for a third spell with the club he began his European career at the dawn of the new millennium.
Bayern Munich
Pep Guardiola's troops are simply unstoppable right now, with some already declaring the Bundesliga title race over after seeing the way they dismantled fellow contenders Wolfsburg and Dortmund - both by score-lines of five to one. Not only do they have a perfect 100 per cent record in the Bundesliga, but they have also enjoyed their time in the Champions League and in fact, they have won every single game in their matches across all competitions.
They will have to contend with quite a few injuries, including key players like Medhi Benatia, Franck Ribery, and Arturo Vidal, and Gotze now joins them after suffering a muscular injury that will keep him out for the next two months. However, the injury prone Holger Badstuber has reportedly returned to training and Arjen Robben appears to have shaken off yet another injury during the international break to return to the fold.
It remains to be seen whether Guardiola opts to field the Dutch winger - especially given his injury battles in recent times - as a starter or a substitute as this is a match that - without showing any disrespect to Werder Bremen - Bayern should win without breaking too much of a sweat.
Lewandowski certainly showed no signs of slowing down as he represented his native Poland during the international break. All in all, the ex-Dortmund man and current team's skipper grabbed an impressive 13 goals during qualifying as Poland booked their place at EURO 2016. With 15 goals in his last six matches for Bayern and Poland, he absolutely deserves to be named as the top no. 9 on current form in world football and Werder's back-line will have their hands full trying to keep him quiet.
That titanic task will be largely up to center back Jannik Vestergaard, who is nearly 2 meters tall and will have to stifle him both in the air and on the turf. His team will be relying on the young Danish international to pull his weight defensively as well as Nigerian striker Anthony Ujah to do his part on the offensive front if they want to have any hope of getting anything out of this tough match.
Will Bayern make it nine wins in nine? And will Dortmund bounce back after a crushing loss against Mainz later today?
Get ready for an exciting round of Bundesliga action starting today! And LiveSoccerTV.com, as always has you covered.
Make sure you bookmark our Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen vs. Bayen Munich, and our general Bundesliga page for specific viewing times and options for these two games and all German football action starting this Friday.
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