2012-2013 German Bundesliga Match Day 10: Borussia Dortmund v VfB Stuttgart [R]

2012-2013 German Bundesliga Match Day 10






Borussia Dortmund




versus




VfB Stuttgart









Saturday, November 3, 2012, Westfalenstadion, Dortmund - Kickoff: 3:30 PM CET




This is the first meeting between Borussia Dortmund (BVB) and VfB Stuttgart since the thrilling 4-4 draw the two clubs played in Dortmund this past March 30th. For those who don’t remember, in that match, backup BVB striker, then VfB backup striker Julian Schieber scored Stuttgart’s second and third goals as Stuttgart fought back from 2-0 down to take a 3-2 lead at the point of Schieber’s second goal. Mats Hummels brought BVB level three minutes later and Ivan Perisic put BVB back ahead five minutes after Hummels’ goal. Christian Gentner scored in stoppage time to give VfB the draw. Many believe that match is why Julian Schieber is a BVB player now.



VfB Stuttgart comes into this match in eighth place in the Bundesliga standings. However, they are also just three points behind fourth place BVB. VfB Stuttgart is also on two-match winning and four-match unbeaten streaks in the Bundesliga after recording a huge 2-1 home victory over Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend. Serial BVB-Killer Vedad Ibisevic got back on the scoresheet in this match, scoring VfB’s match-winner in the 84th minute. VfB also recorded a 1-0 away victory at HSV on October 21st, a 2-2 draw at home with Bayer Leverkusen on October 7th and a 2-0 victory at 1. FC Nürnberg (FCN) back on September 29th. Vfb Stuttgart’s last Bundesliga defeat was back on September 26th when they were beaten 3-0 in Stuttgart by 1899 Hoffenheim.


BVB’s record in its last six matches has been nothing to write home about. While BVB does have two victories in this span, including last weekend’s 2-0 victory at SC Freiburg, there have also been two defeats in this span. The six match period begins with the 3-2 defeat at HSV on September 22nd. This defeat was followed by a 3-3 draw on September 25th at Eintracht Frankfurt after surrendering a two-goal lead. To this day, I still feel like we “lost” that match. BVB made up for this by hammering Gladbach 5-0 in Dortmund on September 29th (a match I was in the Südtribune for) behind two beautiful goals from Marco Reus. The other BVB goals in that match were scored by Neven Subotic, Ilkay Gündogan and Kuba. BVB then recorded a controversial 1-1 draw at Hannover 96 on October 7th, before coming home to lose a Ruhr Derby at home 2-1 to FC Scheisse 04, thanks to a panicked tactical formation decision by BVB coach Jürgen Klopp. Then there was the aforementioned 2-0 victory at Freiburg.


On top of all this, BVB has not done well against VfB at home in recent history. In nine meetings with Stuttgart in Dortmund since August 2002, BVB only has two victories. And those two victories both came in calendar year 2008. Stuttgart also has two victories in this timeframe and there have been five draws. However, BVB’s overall home record against VfB is positive. 23 victories, 13 draws and 12 defeats.


With VfB in good form and BVB still doing well at home when they aren’t handicapped by their own coach (not a shot at Kloppo, just a fact) this match promises to be another knockdown, drag-out, spectacular. While I don’t expect anything along the lines of last season’s 4-4 draw, I am still expecting one hell of a battle. One I expect BVB to barely take the three points from……

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Please be reminded the information below IS NOT OFFICIAL!!



Projected Borussia Dortmund Starting Lineup: Weidenfeller - Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Gündogan, Kehl - Reus, Götze, Grosskreutz – Lewandowski


Projected Borussia Dortmund Substitutes: Langerak (GK) - Kirch, Löwe, Santana, Leitner, Perisic, Bittencourt, Schieber


Questionable For Borussia Dortmund: Unknown


Out For Borussia Dortmund: Kuba (not match fit), Bender (recovering from calf muscle tear), Owomoyela (calf surgery)

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Projected VfB Stuttgart Starting Lineup: Ulreich - Sakai (Rüdiger), Tasci (Maza), Niedermeier, Molinaro - Kvist - Gentner, Holzhauser - Harnik, Traoré – Ibisevic


Projected VfB Stuttgart Substitutes: Ziegler (GK) - Kuzmanovic, Maza, Stöger, Rüdiger, Hajnal, Okazaki


Questionable For VfB Stuttgart: Sakai (slight muscle tear), Tasci (unknown)


Out For VfB Stuttgart: Torun (thigh muscle tear), Cacau (knee ligament tear), Didavi (rehab after surgery), Audel (not match fit), Boka (laceration)



Referee – Felix Zwayer




Saturday’s match will be the sixth time Felix Zwayer has supervised a Bundesliga match involving BVB. One of the previous five matches was this season’s 2-1 victory in the home opener against Werder Bremen. Last season, Felix Zwayer was in charge of BVB’s 2-0 victory over FCN, BVB’s 1-1 draw against 1. FC Kaiserslautern (FCK), BVB’s 6-1 victory over 1. FC Köln (Cologne) and also BVB’s 4-0 German Cup Quarterfinal victory at Holstein Kiel. The other Bundesliga match Zwayer has called involving BVB was a 3-0 BVB victory over SC Freiburg on April 11, 2011. Felix Zwayer has been a Bundesliga referee since August 2009. Saturday’s match will be his 45th time in charge of a Bundesliga match.

Sideline Assistants: Harm Osmers and Marcel Pelgrim – Fourth Official: Christoph Bornhorst



Spectators: Westfalenstadion is sold out (80,645).

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Click here for Goal.com's match preview.

 

Reus has been inconsistent so far this season. When he's good, he's really f#cking good. But when he's not, he's pretty average......

 

BVB will never focus solely on the CL. We're not Bayern. We're focused on the Bundesliga top three.

Title has never been the issue. Top three. That's it. That's all management has ever said. Again, we're not Bayern and we know it.

We BVB fans know.

 

Gotta agree with this for the most part. Especially on Götze and Gündogan.

I believe the play Lewa was "startled" on would have surprised anyone.

 

“kicker” Post-Match Ratings

“kicker” Ratings Key:

1 – World Class

2 – Very Good

3 – Average/Decent

4 – Slightly Below Average

5 – Pretty Bad

6 – Completely Horrible

NR – Not Rated
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Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller (2.5), Piszczek (3), Subotic (3.5), Hummels (2.5), Schmelzer (3) – Gündogan (2), Kehl (NR), Reus (4), Götze (2.5), Grosskreutz (4) – Lewandowski (3.5)


Borussia Dortmund Substitutes:
20th Minute: Leitner (4) for Kehl
56th Minute: Schieber (3.5) for Grosskreutz
76th Minute: Perisic (NR) for Reus


Borussia Dortmund Unused Roster Players: Langerak (GK), Kirch, Santana, Löwe





VfB Stuttgart: Ulreich (2), Sakai (3), Tasci (2.5), Niedermeier (3), Boka (3.5) –
Kvist (3), Holzhauser (4), Gentner (2.5), Harnik (4), Traore (2.5) – Ibisevic (3)


VfB Stuttgart Substitutes:
70th Minute: Kuzmanovic for Holzhauser
88th Minute: Okazaki for Traore
92nd Minute: Maza for Ibisevic


VfB Stuttgart Unused Roster Players: Ziegler (GK), Rüdiger, Molinaro, Hajnal



Goals: None


Shots On Goal:
Borussia Dortmund: 6
VfB Stuttgart: 5



Corners Won:
Borussia Dortmund: 9
VfB Stuttgart: 2


Match Rating (2.5): It was a quality match which was also fast with many momentum swings. Despite the lack of goals, it was an entertaining match.


Man of the Match: Sven Ulreich – Ulreich was 200% responsible for VfB Stuttgart getting out of Dortmund with a point with his reflex save on Hummels’ 29th header and his great save against Scheiber later in the match.

***My Comments: Gotta agree with this. For me, Ulreich was clearly Man of the Match.


Referee – Felix Zwayer (5): Zwayer was far too lenient in dishing out punishment during the match. Stuttgart’s Holzhauser should have saw the red card for his 18th minute foul against Dortmund’s Sebastian Kehl. Stuttgart’s Ibisevic should have been carded for his 90th minute foul against Dortmund’s Schmelzer which would have been a second yellow, sending off and one-match suspension for Ibisevic. Dortmund’s Reus should have been warned for his 75th minute foul against Stuttgart’s Sakai. Zwayer and his crew also overlooked the fact Dortmund’s Lewandowski was offside in the 88th minute when he crashed a shot off the Stuttgart crossbar.


Yellow Cards:

Borussia Dortmund – None
VfB Stuttgart:Holzhauser (2nd of the season), Kvist (2nd), Ibisevic (2nd), Gentner (3rd)

Red Cards: None

Spectators: 80,645 (Sold Out)