Fuente : UEFA (English)
http://www.uefa.com/

Football Europe: Bundesliga ready for Ruhr passion

/noticias.info/ The derby between BV Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04 will lure an 80,000 crowd to the Westfalenstadion on Saturday while FC Bayern München travel to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Changed circumstances
On two occasions each season the Ruhr Valley comes to a standstill when Dortmund and Schalke meet. Dortmund had managed to achieve a slight edge after floating the club on the stock market but recently things have changed. During the summer, cash-strapped Dortmund opted mainly for free transfers, while Schalke were spending €9m on strikers Kevin Kuranyi and Søren Larsen.

Rangnick determined
Despite the financial gap between the teams, Dortmund coach Bert van Marwijk is optimistic. "Matches between Dortmund and Schalke are always special and they can go either way," the Dutchman said. However, Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick will settle for nothing less than three points. "Another win against Dortmund would get us off to a perfect start," said Rangnick, whose side began the season with a 2-1 success against 1. FC Kaiserslautern last week.

Augenthaler optimistic
In another exciting fixture on Saturday, champions Bayern will visit Leverkusen. Last term Leverkusen ripped Bayern apart in the BayArena and won 4-1. Therefore, coach Klaus Augenthaler sees no reason to rank his team as outsiders. "We are at home, we beat them last year, there is nothing to be worried about," said the former Bayern sweeper.

Wake-up call
His counterpart Felix Magath would obviously like to forget that last trip to Leverkusen even though he believes the defeat was important for his side. "The defeat in Leverkusen woke us up. We made mistakes and were punished but we didn't make the same mistakes again. However, it was hard to watch at the time," said Magath.

Hamburg high
In Saturday's other games, UEFA Intertoto Cup finalists Hamburger SV will hope to continue their good run when they go to DSC Arminia Bielefeld. Furthermore, Hertha BSC Berlin will host Eintracht Frankfurt, VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach will entertain VfL Wolfsburg, MSV Duisburg journey to 1. FC Kaiserslautern and 1. FC Nürnberg are at home to Hannover 96.

Bremen at Mainz
On Sunday, Werder Bremen will look to bounce back from their 2-1 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round defeat by FC Basel 1893 away to 1. FSV Mainz 05, while VfB Stuttgart coach Giovanni Trapattoni wants all three points from the home tie against 1. FC Köln. notas_de_prensa_archivo