Leverkusen is one of those clubs that shouldn't be in Bundesliga.
It's a little "town" between Cologne and Düsseldorf with 160k inhabitants and the club surely wouldn't
exist without the pharma giant Bayer. It's not the idea of Bundesliga that companies are in charge of a Bundesliga side and as a result they have not many fans, not really a fan culture. Most fans come from foreign countries, because they didn't know better. A big Bundesliga team should have many fans, shouldn't it? I mean, what's the point? It's like Metallica play on a huge festival in front of 5000 ppl. When Leverkusen played Wolfsburg last season SKY couldn't even measure people watching it. Sad. And such a club represents Germany in the Champions League (they never even were champions). Pathetic.
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| Leverkusen's trophy vitrine |
But hey, the funny part is, that Leverkusen just won't win anything. Every time they come near a title they choke and collapse. There is no side that finished second so many times like Leverkusen, which is why they are called Vizekusen (a term, that Leverkusen trademarked, btw) or Nerverkusen.
Probably, because it's a soulless side, without proper support... but that's just a personal theory.
However, this match will be a top match! Leverkusen has many expensive players and a good squad that is very competitive.
With Robin Dutt they gained defensive strength, a feature they usually lack.
After a rather pathetic loss in Mainz they managed to win 1:0 at home against Bremen and also 1:0 in Stuttgart. A quality we usually know from Freiburg. Exactly.
It will be the last and only test against a really competitive side for Dortmund before going into the first Champions League match against Arsenal, no offense Hertha.
So it's a key match, for several reasons! For one, I hate losing against Leverkusen! Also it will be a good test, to see how a game looks like when an opponent is NOT sitting as deep as possible in his own half.
Jürgen Klopp already said that his "matchplan" will be: Standing compact, focus on the defensive duties first. With Robin Dutt on the other side I'd usually predict a very tactical and boring match, but looking at both offensive lines it can't be! Even though it's still uncertain whether Mario Götze plays, there are still names like Schürrle, Augusto, Sidney Sam, Kagawa, Großkreutz, Perisic... Yes, I left out Kießling and Lewandowski, but you all know why. This clash also never produced a 0-0 in the history of Bundesliga!
If Dortmund wants to get anything out of this game, they better get their act together. If they start the game like they did in Hoffenheim or the first half against Nürnberg, we won't have the slightest chance.
I really hope that Shinji Kagawa will find his form! His last good game was in Japan (3-0, two goals) and he still hasn't scored yet. Also I'm pretty sure that Perisic will score his first goal on Saturday! Just a feeling.
Also it will be very interesting, which of the Bender twins will win more tackles. All in all I hope for a pretty exciting match with a sweet win over Vizekusen!
How to beat Leverkusen?
Well, usually I would draw some tactical stuff here, but there is no need.
Easiest recipe: Deny Leverkusen for 50-60 minutes, they'll get nervous and then collapse.
It has worked so many times! Or just wait until Ballack comes on! Haha... I'm joking.. I'm Joking... am I?
Maybe a little tactical annotation: Leverkusen is very vulnerable down the flanks, so it will be key in this match for Dortmund to make runs down the flank (Piszczek, Götze, Großkreutz, Schmelzer) to create width. Also a task for Kuba and Perisic. Werder Bremen showed that it's very easy to spread Leverkusen's attack this way and they often lose the coordination in defense. Creating this lack of orientation is one of Dortmund's specialties when it comes to transmission (Defense -> Offense).
I still love to watch the "5 minutes of Leverkusen" from last season! I even got the video on my mobile and I watch it from time to time when I'm waiting for the bus or so. Dortmund scored 3 goals within 5 minutes! Leverkusen completely collapsed. It's a beauty! Here, watch!
Heja BVB!
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