Dortmund keen to continue Tuchel revival

Thomas Tuchel's arrival at Borussia Dortmund following the departure of Juergen Klopp has revitalized the Westphalian club after a very underwhelming 2014-15 campaign.

Dortmund is the league's early pacesetter, above Bayern Munich on goal difference, after thumping wins over Borussia Moenchengladbach, newcomers Ingolstadt and Hertha Berlin with a trip to lowly Hanover awaiting them on Saturday.

However, Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lukasz Piszczek all returned prematurely from international duty due to injury with their status for the weekend up in the air.

Bayern outclassed Bayer Leverkusen, one of Germany's four Champions League representatives, last time out to maintain its perfect start this term and has a Bavarian derby against Augsburg to contend with on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola will be without Arjen Robben for a month though after the Dutchman picked up a groin strain during his country's shock 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying defeat at home to Iceland.

Augsburg has beaten Bayern twice in their past three meetings, albeit when Guardiola's men had already wrapped up the title, but Bayern skipper Philipp Lahm is keen to set the record straight.

"We're the home team and we want the next three points," Lahm said in quotes published on the Bundesliga's official website.

"We've started the season well and we want to carry on this way."

Borussia Moenchengladbach will look to belatedly breathe life into its Bundesliga campaign on Friday when it take on Hamburg ahead of next week's first foray into the Champions League group stage.

Three straight defeats to start the season, including a heavy 4-0 reverse at Dortmund in its season opener, has left Lucien Favre's Gladbach rock bottom and desperate for a morale boost going into next Tuesday's Group D clash away to Sevilla.

The Foals, who sealed a return to Europe's elite after a near 40-year absence by virtue of last season's third-place finish, are expected to welcome back captain Martin Stranzl with the Austrian defender having missed the past six months through injury.

"We have to make sure we produce good results so that we can get our confidence back again," Stranzl, who has seen his teammates leak eight goals already this term in his absence, told the club's official website.

"We need to do this as quickly as possible so that any negative thoughts aren't allowed to linger.

"After the game against Hamburg, we've got a lot of midweek games and there won't be much time to rest. For that reason, a win at this stage would be very important," said the veteran centerhalf.

Hamburg, the Bundesliga's only ever-present club, has narrowly escaped relegation twice the past two seasons after coming through a playoff.

Bruno Labbadia's men again find themselves in the bottom half, a 3-2 victory over fellow struggler Stuttgart representing its lone three points so far.

Julian Draxler and Dante are in line to make their Wolfsburg debuts as last season's runner-up visit Ingolstadt, which has just one point fewer than Dieter Hecking's men after two wins in its first three outings.

Leverkusen will try to bounce back from its first loss as promoted Darmstadt, which has drawn its opening three games, makes the trip to the BayArena.

Unbeaten Cologne go to Eintracht Frankfurt with Schalke hosting fifth-placed Mainz on Sunday.

(China Daily 09/12/2015 page12)