Bundesliga
Liveticker | Schedule | table
Late last night, Borussia Dortmund announced that the press conference will start before the next Bundesliga match on Thursday at 13 o'clock.
Thursday, 13 o'clock. By then Lucien Favre will not be able to avoid talking about Bayern. On Tuesday, in the last hour of the day, the coach of the BVB gallantly avoided the subject when he was asked about it. Atlético Madrid is a "very, very good team," said Favre, having been "always top" for the past eight years.
That should be consensus. And it also explained the 2-0 victory Atlético against BVB in the Champions League, which everyone in the baggage of the Bundesliga rightfully categorized as "earned". However, this was not an answer to the question of what impact the first defeat in a competitive match under Favre on the top match of the Bundesliga on Saturday against Bayern Munich (18.30 clock, TV: Sky, live ticker SPIEGEL ONLINE) could have.
Back on the ground of reality
Sebastian Kehl, clearly more talkative than the coach, approached the topic. He said: "There is not much change in the game on Saturday, and we will not be disturbed by the defeat." However, the head of the licensing players department also spoke to points that could go against Atlético and thus give the Munich people the tactics: "They bought the cutting edge, we paid with our young team apprenticeship, have been partially ausgekontert."
The first leg, two weeks earlier, BVB won brilliantly with 4: 0. He had passed the matriculation examination, it said afterwards. Now he fell through, a few days before the big test against the champion of the past six years. "Maybe it's not so bad that we came back to reality after the superstar," said goalkeeper Roman Bürki in Madrid. Now the senses are sharpened before the duel between the two leading German clubs in the football industry.
The offensive remained harmless as rare
Maybe it will also scratch the confidence of the table leader, because he was led at Atlético to see what brings him out of the rest. After a leisurely start, the Madrilenians changed their tactics after about half an hour. They left the Bundesliga continue generous the ball, in the end came BVB at a rate of 63 percent.
But Atlético attacked more forward and more aggressive, took Dortmund central midfielder Axel Witsel and Thomas Delaney in man-making, which the connecting stations were cut off in the game of BVB. The offensive remained harmless as rare. The statisticians recorded only four degrees, none of them came on the goal of Jan Oblak. This, so the statisticians also said that the worst values of Borussia in the Champions League since 2003 was started to raise such data.
Lucien Favre's reactions in the video
Video
AP
"The coach will certainly have seen some things we can improve," said central defender Manuel Akanji, and he should have been a bit understated. Lucien Favre will stay three days to prepare BVB for the match against Munich. He will wonder if he will again offer Paco Alcácer in the Storm Center or Mario Götze, who is much more involved in combinations. Favre will have to provide Witsel and Delaney with a man-cover, even if the people of Munich use the old-fashioned but often so efficient means.
Akanji hopes that Bayern will at least not be as nasty as the Madrilenians and largely refrain from wanting to have the ball: "I do not think Bayern will play like Atlético." On Thursday at 13 o'clock Favre will also say about Bayern. He will keep quiet about what he plans.