Lucien Favre says his Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund must learn from Bayern Munich's stumble against Friday's opponents Augsburg to stay ahead in the tense title race.
With just under a third of the season left, recent poor results have slashed Dortmund's lead from nine to just three points before Friday's trip south to Augsburg, where Bayern came perilously close to a shock defeat a fortnight ago.
The defending champions leaked two goals from crosses, including a weak own-goal by Leon Goretzka 13 seconds into the Bavarian derby, and needed two Kingsley Coman goals to draw level before David Alaba scored the winner in a 3-2 victory.
Dortmund had their own close shave at home to Augsburg last October in a seven-goal thriller after replacement Paco Alcacer claimed a hat-trick by drilling home a stunning 96th-minute free-kick to seal a dramatic 4-3 win.
Augsburg sit just above the relegation places, but their winger Philipp Max still found lots of space on the flanks against Bayern and Favre, Dortmund's head coach, expects a few more surprises from Manuel Baum's side.
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"Augsburg played very well the last time we faced them, they change their tactics regularly," said Favre on Wednesday.
"Against Bayern, they played some high risk football and caused a few problems. Augsburg have a lot of goal chances in every game."
- Last Spurs' tune-up -
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This will be Dortmund's final chance to tune up before next Tuesday's all-or-nothing Champions League clash at home to Tottenham Hotspur with the Germans needing to overturn a 3-0 deficit after being thumped in the last 16, first leg tie at Wembley.
Dortmund hope to welcome back Marco Reus, their captain and chief goal-scorer, at Augsburg after missing nearly four weeks with a thigh strain, during which his side went five games without a win, but Lukasz Piszczek is out with a foot injury.
Last Sunday's 3-2 victory at Bayer Leverkusen, when stand-in skipper Mario Goetze and England winger Jadon Sancho supplied key goals, ended Dortmund's slump.
"It was important to win again," explained the Swiss coach.
"Leverkusen played very well, but we're always learning and everyone was a part of that."
On Saturday, Bayern, who have won ten of their last 11 league games, have a tricky away trip to faltering Borussia Moenchengladbach, who inflicted a stunning 3-0 defeat on the Bavarian giants at the Allianz Arena when the sides met in October.
Dieter Hecking's Gladbach sit third, but stumbled in recent weeks by crashing to 3-0 defeats against Hertha Berlin and Wolfsburg either side of a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bayern hope to have a host of stars fit after missing the start of the week with illness. Both goalkeepers Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich were absent on Monday with flu while forwards Franck Ribery and Robert Lewandowski sat out Tuesday's session with upset stomachs.
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