Werder and Dortmund look to stay perfect

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen kick off the third round of the Bundesliga on Friday, almost to the day when the two teams met 50 years ago on opening matchday of the new league.

The Bundesliga celebrates its 50th anniversary on Saturday and the first round in 1963 featured Werder's 3-2 win at home over Dortmund. The match saw the newly established league's first goal, when Dortmund's Timo Konietzka scored in the first minute.

Now, the Bundesliga is riding on a wave of success, with record attendances and the two Champions League finalists of last season — winner Bayern Munich and runner-up Dortmund.

Despite losing the championship and the German Cup title, Dortmund's run to the final was a windfall for the club and its revenue topped 250 million euros ($334.6 million) for the season.

By finishing second, Dortmund made sure of playing in the lucrative Champions League again.

While Bayern is also a perfect 2-0 at the start, the winner of the unprecedented treble for a German club has failed to inspire under new coach Pep Guardiola.

Dortmund already has scored six goals in two games, leads the standings on goal difference and appears ready to challenge Bayern for the title again.

Bremen, surprisingly, is also among the leaders — and is the only club not to have conceded a goal so far.

After narrowly escaping relegation, Bremen has a new coach in Robin Dutt and has reshuffled its defense.

"Our intention is not to build a wall but after giving up 66 goals last season it was the defense where we had to start," Dutt said.

Bremen beat both Augsburg and newcomer Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0, but Dutt said Dortmund would be a different matter.

"With all due respect for Braunschweig and Augsburg, Dortmund is a different caliber. We play in a different league from a financial and sporting aspect," Dutt said.

Bremen's job could be made more complicated if defenders Luca Caldirola and Clemens Fritz have to sit out the match with injuries.

Dortmund boasts an attack that appears to have shrugged off the departure of Mario Goetze to Bayern Munich.

With Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski and newly signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dortmund has the weapons to crack any defense.

Still, coach Juergen Klopp is cautious, although Dortmund has won the last six home games against Werder.

"Bremen now has more confidence and we'll feel it," Klopp said. "We are going against a well-organized rival and we'll have to find solutions."

Bayern has looked solid in its first two matches but did not electrify the crowds, especially in a slim 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt, which bemoaned a couple of questionable refereeing decisions.

Guardiola's team next hosts Bavarian rival Nuremberg at home and anything but a win would be a huge upset.

Bayer Leverkusen, also off to an impressive 2-0 start, hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach and will have a tougher job.

Mainz, another team with a perfect start, hosts a rejuvenated Wolfsburg and its new signing Luiz Gustavo from Bayern.

Schalke, held to a 1-1 draw by PAOK Thessaloniki in Champions League qualifying, travels to Hannover. Hoffenheim, which only stayed in the Bundesliga by winning a playoff, is off to a promising start and plays winless Freiburg.

Hamburger SV, a 5-1 loser at home to Hoffenheim, travels to promoted Hertha Berlin. Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink has dropped midfielders Dennis Aogo and Tomas Rincon because they used two practice-free days to travel to Mallorca. Fink said the players should have used the time to think about "becoming better" and not taking holidays.

On Sunday, four teams still without points play each other. Braunschweig takes on its namesake from Frankfurt and Augsburg hosts Stuttgart.