Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke believes some Bundesliga clubs no longer try against Bayern Munich -- and suggested the reverse is true for his club.
Dortmund, the German champions in 2011 and 2012, have suffered an alarming decline this season and currently find themselves 17th in the table as they prepare for the second half of the Bundesliga season.
BVB, who also reached the Champions League final in 2013, have been searching for answers as to how they have found themselves inside the relegation zone, with concerns raised over their fitness and mental strength.
Watzke has also suggested that -- in stark contrast to Bayern -- clubs in the Bundesliga are making a special effort to claim victory when they face Dortmund.
"It's true the sheer magnitude of the failure in the Hinrunde [first half of the season] is not acceptable, but the analysis of the current state also has a lot to do with our more recent past," Watzke told Suddeutsche Zeitung.
He added: "We are now the platform for others to experience something special. We have seen games where experienced teams parked the bus at home against us and their fans celebrated every ball that was cleared into our half.
"But that's totally fine. When you get too close to the sun, it gets hot."
However, he said Bayern -- who re-start their Bundesliga campaign 11 points clear of second-placed Wolfsburg -- have experienced the opposite.
"You can see that many teams just waive the points when they face Bayern now," he said. "Their dominance at this point is so absurd that many opponents don't put everything into those games, which they had done in the past."
Watzke also acknowledged, though, that BVB were "totally caught on the wrong foot in the Hinrunde."
"Once you have hit turbulence, you lose confidence much quicker than teams that have lower expectations," he said. "With the ambitions our players have for themselves, every defeat hits you with much more force than for those who are mentally prepared to lose more games.
"The downfall came in stages. At the beginning of the season, we received a lot of praise for a few games, especially in Champions League."
Dortmund have not claimed an away win in the Bundesliga since beating Augsburg 3-2 on Aug. 29, and their only other point away from the Westfalenstadion came in a 2-2 draw at Paderborn on Nov. 22.
In total, they lost 10 of their opening 17 league games, but boss Jurgen Klopp told a news conference ahead of their trip to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday that they can rediscover their form in the second half of the season, which is known as the Ruckrunde.
"The Hinrunde must be treated as an experience, not as a source of stress," Klopp said.
Using his familiar metaphor of the "hard drive" -- which he said had crashed during the Hinrunde and was "rebooted" during the winter training camp -- Klopp added: "Should we manage to show the things we have put back onto our hard-drive when we are on the pitch, we will be capable of winning games again."
However, he said that BVB still need time to hit top form, even if he is hopeful they can secure a positive result against third-placed Leverkusen.
"The evolution of our game will happen during the Ruckrunde -- that can't happen in [the winter break]," said. "Leverkusen are one of 17 opponents. I am moderately optimistic and I am looking forward to the match."