Bundesliga Weekend Preview
Hans-Joachim Watzke believes Borussia Dortmund will have to tame one of the strongest attacks in Europe when they host Bayern Munich.
The Westphalian and Bavarian giants have been Germany's two most successful clubs over the past 15 years and games between them are always passionate affairs.
Bayern have enjoyed the lion's share of recent glory since Dortmund last won the Bundesliga title in 2002, but Dortmund are eyeing an upset this weekend.
"We have 80,000 fans behind us and we will try with a brutal passion to create an upset," promised Dortmund's general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke in today's Bild newspaper.
"It is not going to be a walk in the park for them here."
Watzke did, however, admit his side will not face a tougher test at home this season.
He said: "In attack, Bayern are on a par with Real Madrid. That is world class."
Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben may be paired for the first time from the start this weekend after they took part defending champions Wolfsburg in the second half of their last Bundesliga fixture.
Both have taken steps forward with their fitness over the last fortnight and are now ready to partner Mario Gomez in coach Louis van Gaal's dream attack.
Wolfsburg's attack earned plenty of praise last season as Edin Dzeko and Grafite set a new league record of 54 goals between them, but they are finding out the hard way how tough it is to defend a league title.
Two consecutive defeats have knocked Armin Veh's side off the summit for the first time since April and they will be eager to return to winning ways against high-flying Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
League leaders Hamburg have suffered the most from the international break with Collin Benjamin and the league's joint top goalscorer Paolo Guerrero both returning with serious knee injuries which may rule them out until next year.
Coach Bruno Labbadia will have to shuffle his team against Stuttgart on Saturday evening, by which time Borussia Monchengladbach could have returned to the summit with a win at Nurnberg.
Werder Bremen and Schalke are also within three points of the league leaders, but they have to wait until Sunday before facing Hannover and Cologne respectively.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Hoffenheim host Bochum, while Freiburg, who stunned Schalke last time out, will look to continue their march up the table against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Finally, Mainz host Hertha Berlin at the Bruchweg Stadion.
Match Previews
Nurnberg vs Borussia Monchengladbach Preview
Mainz vs Hertha Berlin Preview
Freiburg vs Eintracht Frankfurt Preview
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