Borussia Dortmund players leave the pitch following their defeat by FC Augsburg in their German first division Bundesliga match in Dortmund.

DPA/Berlin

Borussia Dortmund face a trip to fellow strugglers Freiburg with no sign of a turnaround in fortunes in a dreadful Bundesliga season so far for the 2011 and 2012 champions.
Wednesday evening’s 1-0 home defeat to Augsburg piled on the misery for coach Juergen Klopp’s side who are now two points behind the rest at the bottom of the table.
Even the side’s most faithful fans seem to be turning on the team, many making their feelings loudly felt when players went behind the goal immediately after the game.
“When you are in this position after 19 games you can’t have the nerve to say you don’t understand the reaction,” defender Mats Hummels said.
“We’re all aware that we’ve got to fight in the next 15 games.  Playing attractive football will just be a bonus, yet we are still expected to play that kind of football.
“We know that 98 per cent will be about fighting, the other two needs will be about loosening up so that we start making the right decisions in the final third.”
Klopp said mistakes in defence and failure to take goalscoring opportunities were continuing to hamper the side.
“There’s no doubt that nerves play a part in our situation. We need to bring them under control,” he said.
“We create chances, and we see improvement, but the result is always the same. I’m very disappointed. We knew it’s not going to be easy. I can understand the fans’ frustrations.”
Freiburg are only two points better off, one of many sides now fighting to avoid being sucked in at the bottom. Only three points separate the bottom five.
After three defeats in a row, Hertha Berlin Thursday dismissed Dutch coach Jos Luhukay. Former player Pal Dardai and former assistant coach Rainer Widmayer have been put in charge until further notice.
Hertha lost 1-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen Wednesday, have not scored for three games and have now slipped to second last ahead of a visit to Mainz.
VfB Stuttgart are also in deep trouble, level on 18 points with Hertha and Freiburg - with champions Bayern Munich the visitors Saturday.
SV Hamburgs’s 3-0 win at Paderborn Wednesday has given Josef Zinnbauer’s side a bit of breathing space ahead of Hanover’s visit, while Paderborn, on 19 points, need to recover from two heavy defeats (the result against Hamburg followed a 5-0 loss at Mainz) when they travel to fellow promoted side Cologne.
At the top, Bayern will be hoping to protect an eight-point lead and also get back to winning ways after the league resumption began with a 4-1 defeat at Wolfsburg and Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at home to Schalke.
Bayern, however, played with 10 men after defender Jerome Boateng was sent off for a 17th-minute professional foul, and coach Pep Guardiola was happy with the point.
“Obviously we wanted all three points, but 70 minutes with a man less against Schalke isn’t easy,” he said.
“We controlled the game very well and we had enough chances. It was a much better performance than against Wolfsburg.”
Second-placed Wolfsburg, buoyed by the arrival of Germany midfielder Andre Schuerrle, host seventh-placed Hoffenheim on Saturday, while one of the weekend’s top encounters is the Friday evening meeting between sixth-placed Schalke and Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are two points ahead in third place.
Werder Bremen will be looking to make it four wins in a row when fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen are the visitors Sunday.
Sunday’s other game sees another in-form team in fourth-placed Augsburg - like Bremen seeking a fourth successive win - greet midtable Eintracht Frankfurt.


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