30.11.2009

Playing the numbers game

Borussia's season has so far been shaped by three different runs. After the defeat of Schalke 04 the team are on another winning streak.

Following 7, 0 and 11 come 5, 17 and 11 – logically enough. At the beginning of the season Borussia garnered seven points from four matches, which took them to fifth place in the table. They then lost five league games in a row and slumped to next-to-bottom. The turning point came in Week 11 with the win in Hamburg. Since then Borussia have gone five games without a defeat, a run that has seen them collect eleven points and climb to 11th place in the table. This puts them exactly on course to meet their pre-season target – a mid-table position six points above the relegation play-off spot.

"Often, when you go through a bad patch and then get back on track, you're all the stronger for it", said director of sport Max Eberl. And so it proved on Saturday against a Gelsenkirchen outfit who arrived in third place in the table and could even have gone top temporarily with a win.

Run ended and run extended

Borussia's fifth-minute strike saw them end their goal drought at the BORUSSIA PARK, and by keeping another clean sheet they not only gave Roel Brouwers a "perfect birthday present", but also extended their run of not conceding a goal at home to an impressive 322 minutes.

Happy faces all round, then, especially when coach Michael Frontzeck gave the players Sunday off ahead of the clash with record championship-winning side Bayern Munich on Friday evening (kick-off: 2030 CET). The only player at the BORUSSIA PARK on Sunday was Paul Stalteri, who came in for treatment after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his knee attempting a shot in training on Friday and is now sidelined. Karim Matmour, Roel Brouwers and Thorben Marx all picked up knocks in a hard-fought game but should feature in the first training session of the week this afternoon (1600 CET). At the moment there is certainly no indication that they could miss out on Friday.