Overview
- Friday’s home match is being framed as mood-setting for the holidays, with Niko Kovac defending the team’s development and targeting a win to close the year.
- Dortmund sit third on 29 points from 14 matches, their best four-year return, but they remain nine points behind Bayern Munich.
- Form has dipped to three wins in the last nine competitive games, and a league-high five Bundesliga draws include points lost to late goals.
- Public critiques from Julian Brandt and Nico Schlotterbeck, plus adviser Matthias Sammer’s warning about excessive harmony, have exposed internal strain.
- Executives publicly deny reported internal criticism of Sebastian Kehl and Lars Ricken, while Gladbach see an opening despite 11 straight defeats in Dortmund.