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Key Points Bundesliga

Ross DunbarOctober 26, 2014

Borussia Dortmund went down for the fourth successive league encounter and are now in crisis mode. Elsewhere, two consistent teams remain on course for strong positions, while Stuttgart were goal-hungry in Frankfurt.

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Soccer players on the field
Image: Getty Images

Bayern clash is season-defining for Dortmund:

Six matches without a win and four defeats in a row: Borussia Dortmund have plunged into turmoil, languishing 15th in the league and three points off the bottom. Next week, Jürgen Klopp and his side travel to Munich to face the peerless league leaders at the Allianz Arena.

A win may not be enough to claw back the margin between the two teams, but Dortmund's momentum potentially rests on the clash. A defeat - and potentially slipping into a relegation position - would be an absolute disaster, mentally, for the team ahead of the upcoming international shutdown.

The morale and already suffering confidence will plunge even lower if Dortmund go down to a defeat in Munich. A win, however, might prove to be the kick start that Dortmund are in desperate need of at this point in the season.

While the league championship is long gone, a Champions League spot wouldn't be a miraculous achievement with 25 games left in the league. The next chunk of the season before the winter break in December is of serious importance: Dortmund need to enter that phase on the front foot, aided by a galvanizing result in Bavaria next week.

Augsburg and Hoffenheim march on:

As chaos ensued in Dortmund and Frankfurt, Augsburg and Hoffenheim marched on in a somewhat consistent fashion, grinding out respective 2-0 and 1-0 wins over Freiburg and Paderborn.

A scene showing players on the field during FC Augsburg vs. SC Freiburg
Augsburg can look forward to a good finish in MayImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Those wins don't represent strokes of luck, as the two sides have quietly impressed this season. Augsburg's Markus Weinzierl watched his side get off to an awful start to the season - losing in the German Cup first round - after welcoming several high-profile additions in the summer.

To his credit, Weinzierl reacted swiftly and has cultivated core strengths from previous seasons, sprinkled with some fresh faces - Ahmed Baba - and rejuvenated players in Tobias Werner.

Hoffenheim, meanwhile, are putting together a serious threat for a place in next season's Champions League. From the third-highest goalscorers and third-highest conceder of goals, Hoffenheim are now slightly more methodical.

There's a balance between defense and attack under Markus Gisdol after the recruitment of Oliver Baumann and Emir Bickakic, among others, in the summer to address defensive problems. They've only conceded seven goals in the first nine games this season.

That solid foundation is complemented by a strong attacking dynamic. Kevin Volland, Germany's U21 skipper, scored for the first time in over 700 minutes against Paderborn. Alongside Roberto Firmino and Adam Szalai, Volland is leading from the front in experience and defensive work.

Both teams aren't part-time challengers. They will be certainly in the top echelons of the table come next May.

Maxim must stay in the team:

Stuttgart have netted eight goals in their last two matches. However, nobody could have predicted the drama and tension in a routine away match at Eintracht Frankfurt.

A scene showing players on the field during Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. VfB Stuttgart
Maxim showed why he's an asset on the field on SaturdayImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Despite staying in the bottom half of the table, recent matches have brought out another side of VfB Stuttgart. Last week, the Reds were 3-0 down at home to Bayer Leverkusen after the break, with the home fans even literally turning their back on the players.

But Stuttgart rallied and netted three quick-fire goals to snatch a point. They went one better in Frankfurt, coming from 3-1 down to arrive at a 5-4 win with Captain Christian Gentner notching two of the five goals.

One change that Veh made was the introduction of Alexandru Maxim into the starting line-up. The Romanian attacking midfielder is an outstanding talent with great appreciation of space when in possession and had match-winning qualities in the final-third.

He might not have scored in the 5-4 win, but his overall presence behind the main frontman is important. He's a thinking player, moving around the pitch into the smallest of spaces to open up a bigger one for teammates.

If Maxim plays, Stuttgart's chances of moving away from the doldrums should improve.