Kramer: “Fight right until the end”

Manager Frank Kramer sounded combative in his press conference on Friday: “We have worked intensely on figuring out how to defend against Dortmund, as well as how to fashion out goal chances for ourselves whilst staying tight at the back. I expect my players to battle right until the end in order to make this happen.” Sporting director Andreas Müller has a realistic view but is also confident: “Dortmund are one of the best teams but we will battle with all we have at our disposal. It's a difficult task, that much is clear, but if everything goes right on the day, we too can beat Dortmund.”

Manager Frank Kramer will be without the injured Stefan Thesker, Jannik Vestergaard, Filip Malbasic and Tim Wiese. Chris returned to team training on Friday for the first time since his muscle tear but is still not fit enough to play this weekend. Tobias Weis is another player who has returned to team training this week but unlike Chris, Weis is available for the game on Sunday.

In the Champions League, Borussia reached the last 16 without defeat, as is also the case in the German Cup. In the league though, something is amiss with Dortmund. The third-placed team are currently 14 points behind Bayern München. After three games without a win, Dortmund are back in a tight spot, especially if they are to stop Bayern's closest rivals, Bayer Leverkusen. TSG can remain hopeful that they can build on their statistical advantage against Dortmund and finish 2012 on a high note.

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