Germany international Kevin Grosskreutz insists Borussia Dortmund can bounce back from their Bundesliga nightmare — starting with today’s clash at league leaders Bayern Munich.
“We will show again what we can do and we want to start in Munich,” Grosskreutz said.
Bayern host Dortmund with the teams having shared the past 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 past 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 today.
Bayern hope to include Dutch winger Arjen Robben after he missed the past 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,” Klopp said.
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 past 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,” Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said.
Borussia Moenchengladbach, in second, host TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, who are fourth, tomorrow in a meeting between two of the league’s three remaining unbeaten teams.
’Gladbach can match their 17-game unbeaten record from 1970-1971 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.
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