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Berlin (dpa) - It goes on, one after the other - and on Friday evening starts with an always explosive encounter.

Borussia among themselves, the duel is garnished by a few piquant marginal notes.

But the 18th matchday of the Bundesliga has even more to offer: The leader of the table meets the bottom of the table on Sunday, the second the day before the penultimate.

It could be tight for an experienced trainer in Berlin.

EMBOLO-WIRBEL: There would be enough topics before the Borussia duel between Gladbach and BVB on Friday evening: The question of whether Marco Rose will switch from Niederrhein-Borussia to the Westphalian coach.

Or the renewed low mood in Dortmund.

At the moment, the public is almost exclusively talking about Breel Embolo.

The Swiss national player from Borussia Mönchengladbach was in Essen on Saturday evening and said he was watching basketball on TV with a friend.

Completely “meaningless”, so Rose found, was that alone.

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However, the Essen police even assume that Embolo was at an adjacent illegal party and piled over the roof of the building into the apartment in question when the officers approached.

Embolo denies that. Borussia is currently with Embolo, but sees itself being disturbed in preparation for the game against Dortmund.

HUNTER-COMEBACK: He could really have chosen easier opponents.

But at the start of the second half of the season against FC Bayern Munich, striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is likely to make his Bundesliga comeback after more than three and a half years for FC Schalke 04.

The hopes of success are also low with the 37-year-old, who scored 126 competitive goals for the Royal Blues in seven years.

After all, series champions and leaders from Munich started the bottomless Schalke first half with an 8-0 first leg with just seven points.

And Huntelaar's personal record against the triple winner sounds like one from this season: He missed six of 14 possible games, of the remaining eight he only won the first and then lost seven.

The hunter neither scored nor prepared a goal against Munich in the Bundesliga.

RESULT BAVARIA: 2-1 against SC Freiburg, 1-0 at FC Augsburg - FC Bayern is currently fighting through a grueling phase.

Of course we don't dominate our opponents like we used to, but you can't talk badly either.

Now we have won two games in a row, ”said national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Four months ago, Munich shone 8-0 in the first leg against FC Schalke, the wing tongs Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry conjured up like Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben.

Perhaps the Royal Blues are just right now for the record champions to get more ease and goals into the game again.

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BERLINER SHOWDOWN: Bruno Labbadia doesn't want to give up without a fight.

Even if Hertha BSC's European ambitions in 14th place have long since been shelved.

Against Werder Bremen, the increasingly frustrated coach of Berlin is betting on the long-awaited turning point.

His motto in the relegation battle: roll up your sleeves, defend yourself against resistance and not be afraid.

He wants to convey this attitude to his soulless team.

For manager Michael Preetz, the situation is no less precarious.

Before the game against Werder, Hertha fans want to demonstrate against him and club boss Werner Gegenbauer in front of the Olympic Stadium.

MAINZ 05 DOESN'T GIVE UP: The prospect of avoiding the descent is small.

The will to try is unbroken.

“Maybe we can still make it.

It's a nice job, ”said Mainz sports director Martin Schmidt before the game of the table penultimate against RB Leipzig on Saturday.

After 17 match days with only seven points, no Bundesliga club has managed to stay in it.

“Let's grab the goat by the horns and face the challenge,” said Schmidt.

Apart from the low score, the non-relegation zone is eight points away.

In addition, the Rheinhessen have not won a home game this season.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210121-99-122114 / 2

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