Borussia Dortmund VS Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund secure their safety

Match Time：4/18/2021 21:30 Sunday  (GMT+8)

German Bundesliga --  Borussia Dortmund   VS   Werder Bremen

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Borussia Dortmund take on Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Sunday, with the visitors nervously looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone after losing four matches in a row.

 

The hosts, meanwhile, head into the weekend seven points outside of the Champions League qualification places, which is now their only route into Europe's elite competition next season having lost to Manchester City in the quarter-final of that competition in midweek.

 

Match preview

In truth, Edin Terzic's side put up an excellent effort against the English champions elect Man City once again on Wednesday night, with England midfielder Jude Bellingham providing BVB with a 1-0 lead heading into the half-time interval.

 

Had the match ended that way, Dortmund would have caused a major upset by progressing on away goals after losing the first leg 2-1 away from home.

 

However, Riyad Mahrez levelled the match on the night from the penalty spot after Emre Can was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the penalty area, before Phil Foden wrapped up a 4-2 aggregate victory with a 75th-minute strike.

 

Terzic's attention now returns to domestic action, with Dortmund having a DFB-Pokal semi-final against Holstein Kiel at the start of May to look forward to.

 

However, they are looking like serious underdogs to finish in the top four despite last weekend's thrilling 3-2 win at Stuttgart.

 

Stuttgart had led at half time via Sasa Kalajdzic's towering header, but Bellingham and Marco Reus both quickly struck after the break to flip the match on its head.

 

BVB looked set to drop points yet again after Daniel Didavi's 78th-minute equaliser, but 19-year-old Ansgar Knauff's first goal for the club ensured his side remain just about in the race for the top four ahead of Sunday's match against an out of sorts Bremen.

 

Indeed, having looked assured of safety several weeks ago, Bremen will be concerned of having to repeat last season's relegation playoff after four successive defeats has seen them slip to within four points of that position in the table.

 

Like Dortmund, they do have a DFB-Pokal semi-final to look forward to, albeit with much reduced hopes of progressing to the final given that they will be facing RB Leipzig, who they lost 4-1 at home to in the league last weekend.

 

Julian Nagelsmann's side blitzed them in a terrific first-half display, with Dani Olmo capping a fine team move to break the deadlock after 23 minutes.

 

Target man Alexander Sorloth's quickfire double ensured a comfortable team talk for his manager, with any Bremen hopes via Milot Rashica's converted penalty after the hour mark lasting only two minutes once Marcel Sabitzer had restored his side's three-goal cushion two minutes later.

 

Florian Kohfeldt will be concerned that his team's performances and results may be dipping at precisely the wrong moment of the season, with the likes of Mainz 05, Hertha Berlin and Arminia Bielefeld all picking up positive results in recent weeks.

 

However, with the gap that they have to those sides, one or two more wins should prove enough for Bremen to compete in Germany's top flight for a 41st consecutive season.

 

Kohfeldt will be hoping that they can catch a potentially fatigued and dejected Dortmund cold on Sunday in order to improve their chances of doing exactly that.

 

Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga form:WLWDLW

Borussia Dortmund form (all competitions):WDLLWL

Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:DWLLLL

Werder Bremen form (all competitions):WLLLWL

 

Team News

Jadon Sancho failed to recover from his thigh injury in time to face his former club Man City in either of Dortmund's defeats, so is unlikely to be risked by Terzic in a match which he will feel they should be able to win without the England winger.

 

Youssoufa Moukoko and Dan-Axel Zagadou have been ruled out for the rest of the season with shin and knee injuries respectively, while Thomas Delaney, Marcel Schmelzer and Axel Witsel are facing a race against time to feature again before the end of the campaign.

 

Terzic could look to freshen things up ahead of Wednesday's match against Union Berlin during what represents a congested schedule for his side, with the likes of Thorgan Hazard, Julian Brandt and Giovanni Reyna all hoping for recalls to the starting XI.

 

Bremen's injury list has grown in recent weeks, meanwhile, which is not helping Kohfeldt's cause.

 

Niclas Fullkrug, who is the club's joint-top goalscorer in the Bundesliga this season despite only starting six matches, is out for the rest of the season with a broken toe.

 

Omer Toprak and Felix Agu sustained calf and hip issues respectively during the defeat to Leipzig, with Milos Veljkovic and Romano Schmid expected to take their place in the side against Dortmund.

 

Ludwig Augustinsson, Nick Woltemade and Luca Plogmann remain sidelined, while Leonardo Bittencourt will be hoping for a recall to the starting XI after enduring a spell on the substitutes' bench.

 

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:

Hitz; Meunier, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro; Can, Bellingham; Hazard, Reus, Reyna; Haaland

 

Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:

Pavlenka; Veljkovic, Moisander, Friedl; Gebre Selassie, Mbom, Mohwald, Schmid; Rashica, Bittencourt; Sargent

 

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Werder Bremen