Team Focus: Dortmund Making Strong Defence of Bundesliga Crown

German champions Borussia Dortmund are on a rich vein of form in the Bundesliga at the moment, having gone 13 games without losing since they surrendered a 1-0 lead against Hannover in the last five minutes to lose 2-1, back in October.

It’s an impressive record which has cemented their place in an enthralling title battle between FC Bayern and rivals Schalke with all three locked on 40 points, not forgetting, of course, Borussia Monchengladbach who are just one point behind.

The ‘four-team’ title race is almost certainly heading to the last few weeks of the season with the league-leaders looking less than convincing, Dortmund hitting great form, Schalke staying in touch and Gladbach doing what The Foals do best – winning

BVB were handed a massive boost this week with head coach Jurgen Klopp and sporting director Michael Zorc agreeing new contracts with the club. In addition, Dortmund confirmed a stunning piece of business in January with Marco Reus returning to his hometown club for £14m – a deal which will go through in the summer.

The thought of Mario Gotze and Marco Reus in the same attacking system is already catching on to the Dortmund faithful who have come up with the term “Gotzeus” to compete with the FC Bayern double act of “Robbery” – Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

But in recent weeks, it has been Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa who has been in dazzling form for Dortmund in their two wins against Hamburg and Hoffenheim in the ruckrunde. The 22-year-old has scored six goals this season and has five assists to his name in 16 starts at the Westfalen. He was in sparkling form on Saturday, involved in all three of the goals against Hoffenheim, scoring two in the 3-1 win.

Despite his poor defensive contribution, Kagawa is essential to Dortmund’s attacking play with terrific energy and dynamism to support Robert Lewandowski in attack. The midfielder has completed 26 key passes this season and an average of 2.3 dribbles per game. His 83% pass completion accuracy plays a big part in his overall 7.29 WhoScored rating.

In attacking performances this season, arguably, the most consistent performer in the Dortmund side has been Polish striker Robert Lewandowski who is firmly the number one striker in the squad ahead of Lucas Barrios. Lewandowski has an average WhoScored rating of 7.47 and has made 19 appearances this season at the top of the 4-2-3-1 system. The 23-year-old struggled to impose himself last season given Barrios’ form but the Paraguayan’s injury in the summer opened the door for the former Lech Poznan man to become a first-team regular.

The striker has 14 goals this campaign and six assists which is the highest in the Dortmund squad, along with Kevin Grosskreutz who has also created six goals. Lewandowski’s goal record isn’t surprising when he has, on average, 3.2 shots per game and a key pass every match. In comparison to Barrios, Lewandowski has a very polished all-round game with terrific link-up play that has helped the likes of Kagawa, Gotze and Grosskreutz get on the scoresheet this year. The Polish hitman has a 69.6% passing completion ratio and averages 18 passes per game.

Dortmund are not just a one-trick pony and are built upon a very strong and consistent back-four of Lukas Piszczek, Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic and Marcel Schmelzer, as well as, defensive shield Sven Bender who has been a regular in midfield this term.

26-year-old right-back Piszczek has been in fantastic form over the past 18 months and along with Schmelzer, has been one of the most under-rated members of the title-winning squad. The Polish defender has a WhoScored rating of 7.25 in 18 appearances this season and has a pass accuracy of over 80%.

In the heart of the defence, 23-year-old centre-half Mats Hummels has been a stalwart in the Dortmund backline, having played 19 times this season. His WhoScored rating is 7.29 and is the third highest in the squad. Hummels completes 3.7 tackles per game, 1.9 interceptions and an average of 5.1 clearances per game, but the German international is not just a solid defender and his pass completion ratio is just over 73% and completes 61.8 average passes.

Klopp’s men will need to do without their star attacking-midfielder Mario Gotze until early March, which is a massive blow to Dortmund’s title hopes. The 19-year-old has been in superb form again this campaign with an average WhoScored rating of 7.63 and five goals and five assists in 13 starts for Dortmund.

Gotze has been linked with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United but has revealed that he will stay in Germany until 2014. The right-sided player produces an average of 2.3 key passes and 4 dribbles per game – the highest dribbling statistic in the Dortmund squad.

However, the back-four has brought a real consistency to the Dortmund side and it has been a very under-rated part of the title-winning squad. Jurgen Klopp has some fantastic options in defence and attack and the guarantee of Marco Reus in the summer could present a mouth-watering title battle between Borussia and heavyweights FC Bayern in the next few seasons.