One of the reasons why Dortmund is sitting comfortably at the top of the Bundesliga table with a ten-point lead is that they bounce back from set-backs.
Every time they have failed to win a match this season, they have managed to secure a victory in their very next game.
That is until last weekend, when a last-gasp goal gave Kaiserslautern a draw against the run-away leaders, who were held to a goalless draw at home by Schalke in their previous game.
Dortmund are now eager to make sure that it does not become a case of three-in-a-row when they take on St Pauli at home on Saturday.
For the visitors, the season has already reached unexpected heights with a mid-week victory at SV Hamburg in a city derby - the first time that they beat their bigger rivals since 1977 and only the second time in their history.
It might, however, be too big an ask for St Pauli to avoid defeat at Dortmund, where they have never won.
Hoping for an unlikely Dortmund slip-up is Bayern Munich, who themselves face a difficult away trip to Mainz 05 in Saturday's late game.
Bayern coach Louis van Gaal said last year after they were beaten at home by Mainz, who are one of the surprise teams of the season and are challenging for a place in Europe, that their opponent's had been the only team they faced that had played better than them.
The defending champions are 13 points behind Dortmund in third place and have all but given up on winning the title. They are, however, looking for a good run that will see them finish at least second to be assured of Champions League participation.
French international Franck Ribery, whose return to the side has coincided with an upsurge in performance, is confident that the season can end on a positive note.
"We need a good run of results, and well try and win all our matches," he said, while Danijel Pranjic added: "It wont be easy, but were Bayern and we can do it. We are always good against the better teams."
The weekend kicks off on Friday with the game between Nuremberg and Eintracht Frankfurt, while Saturday's other games see SV Hamburg take on Werder Bremen in a northern Germany derby and Hoffenheim at home to Cologne.
Freiburg face VfL Wolfsburg and fourth-placed Hanover are at home to Kaiserslautern.
On Sunday the Bundesliga's two remaining Europa League teams are in action when struggling VfB Stuttgart travel to second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
The other match on the day sees relegation-threatened Borussia Moenchengladbach, who replaced coach Michael Frontzeck with Lucien Favre on Monday, at home to Schalke 04.
One of the reasons why Dortmund is sitting comfortably at the top of the Bundesliga table with a ten-point lead is that they bounce back from set-backs.
Every time they have failed to win a match this season, they have managed to secure a victory in their very next game.
That is until last weekend, when a last-gasp goal gave Kaiserslautern a draw against the run-away leaders, who were held to a goalless draw at home by Schalke in their previous game.
Dortmund are now eager to make sure that it does not become a case of three-in-a-row when they take on St Pauli at home on Saturday.
For the visitors, the season has already reached unexpected heights with a mid-week victory at SV Hamburg in a city derby - the first time that they beat their bigger rivals since 1977 and only the second time in their history.
It might, however, be too big an ask for St Pauli to avoid defeat at Dortmund, where they have never won.
Hoping for an unlikely Dortmund slip-up is Bayern Munich, who themselves face a difficult away trip to Mainz 05 in Saturday's late game.
Bayern coach Louis van Gaal said last year after they were beaten at home by Mainz, who are one of the surprise teams of the season and are challenging for a place in Europe, that their opponent's had been the only team they faced that had played better than them.
The defending champions are 13 points behind Dortmund in third place and have all but given up on winning the title. They are, however, looking for a good run that will see them finish at least second to be assured of Champions League participation.
French international Franck Ribery, whose return to the side has coincided with an upsurge in performance, is confident that the season can end on a positive note.
"We need a good run of results, and well try and win all our matches," he said, while Danijel Pranjic added: "It wont be easy, but were Bayern and we can do it. We are always good against the better teams."
The weekend kicks off on Friday with the game between Nuremberg and Eintracht Frankfurt, while Saturday's other games see SV Hamburg take on Werder Bremen in a northern Germany derby and Hoffenheim at home to Cologne.
Freiburg face VfL Wolfsburg and fourth-placed Hanover are at home to Kaiserslautern.
On Sunday the Bundesliga's two remaining Europa League teams are in action when struggling VfB Stuttgart travel to second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
The other match on the day sees relegation-threatened Borussia Moenchengladbach, who replaced coach Michael Frontzeck with Lucien Favre on Monday, at home to Schalke 04.
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