Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund has slipped to -11 from the top and is awaiting a tough away trip to Augsburg: news and predictions.
It is not wrong to call Borussia Dortmund’s journey disappointing after the first 14 rounds of the Bundesliga. The yellow-and-whites, who last season were this close to toppling Bayern Munich’s “dictatorship” after more than a decade, are trudging in the league and already seem to be out of the running for the coveted Meisterschale.
Yes, Edin Terzic’s team so far has shown two faces. Stunning in the Champions League, where in the week it defended first place in the so-called iron group by fending off the onslaught of Psg, and too erratic in its own confines. When there are only a few days left before the halfway mark, in fact, the yellow-and-whites find themselves in fifth place and even -11 from the top occupied by Bayer Leverkusen. Painful was last Saturday’s defeat in the direct clash with Leipzig (2-3), which took away three heavy points from Signal Iduna Park, detaching Borussia itself in the standings.
It thus becomes an appointment not to be missed with Augsburg. The Bavarians are not doing badly at all, currently ninth in the standings and wanting to turn the page after the unexpected defeat to Werder Bremen a week ago that ended a long positive streak. But Borussia Dortmund can’t lose any more points on the road if they want to get back into the title fight.Terzic and his men are likely to redeem themselves in a challenge of at least three goals total.
The predictions on the other matches
Another interesting match on the menu offered by the 3:30 p.m. program is the match between Mainz and Heidenheim, a real salvation clash.
(Kohr of Mainz TheVeggente.it (Ansa)
Despite Svensson’s exoneration, Mainz still lies second-to-last in the standings but in their last four games they have collected only one defeat. Confidence can be given to the red-and-whites against a team, Heidenheim, that despite being out of the red zone has to deal with the worst external performance of the tournament.
Union Berlin in the week surrendered 2-3 to Real Madrid in the Champions League: no relegation to the Europa League for the Capitolini, who were last in the group with Napoli. Last Saturday, however, the team in which Leonardo Bonucci plays had returned to winning ways in the league, ending a 17-game fast thanks to a 3-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach. A balanced match looms in the Bochum trip, with at least one goal on each side. Finally, Wolfsburg’s victory against bottom-of-the-table Darmstadt is not a foregone conclusion: the green-and-whites are in fact coming off three defeats in a row and have won on only one occasion away from home. They should in any case be able to take away at least a point from the challenge with Thomas Lieberknecht’s Lilien.
Bundesliga: possible winners
Mainz (in Mainz-Heidenheim).
Wolfsburg or draw (in Darmstadt-Wolfsburg)
Borussia Dortmund (in Augsburg-Borussia Dortmund)
The matches of at least one goal per team
Augsburg-Borussia Dortmund
Bochum-Union Berlin
Bundesliga: the game by at least three total goals
Augsburg-Borussia Dortmund