Around four and a half months after losing the Champions League final against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund is looking for revenge in the premier class. In such a difficult away game in Spain, BVB also wants to take its Bundesliga rivals VfB Stuttgart as an example. From a personnel perspective, Black and Yellow can breathe a sigh of relief.
Gregor Kobel, Niklas Süle and Pascal Groß are available to head coach Nuri Sahin for the Champions League game at Real Madrid. Kobel missed the final training in Dortmund. “Greg had slight stomach problems, that was purely a precautionary measure. We assume that he will be available tomorrow,” said Sahin at the press conference on Monday evening.
According to the head coach, the fact that BVB trained at home on Monday morning was by no means because they did not want to provide their opponents with any additional information. “We have a lot of away games in the next few weeks, we wanted to stay at our training ground as long as possible. That had nothing to do with spies,” clarified Sahin.
After two comfortable victories in Bruges (3-0) and against Celtic Glasgow (7-1), BVB travels as league leaders in the competition to the defending champions, who won the final at Wembley Stadium 2-0 at the beginning of June. “We want to be brave and have every reason to be. After all, we got off to a good start in the competition,” said Sahin.
Kehl: “Real is the biggest club in the world”
Meanwhile, Dortmund doesn’t see itself without a chance in the Champions League game. “We showed that in the final a few weeks ago,” said sports director Sebastian Kehl before leaving for the Spanish capital. The reigning league leaders in the premier class will play at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday evening (9:00 p.m.).
“Real is the biggest club in the world,” emphasized the former BVB captain, but at the same time recalled some close games in Madrid. “We have already fought big battles there,” said Kehl.
However, in seven matches in Madrid so far, the black and yellow team have never achieved a victory. It was close in the 2012/13 and 2016/17 seasons, when they managed a 2-2 draw. The last away game in Madrid, in the 2017/18 season, was lost 2-3. In the final at Wembley in June, BVB was the more active team for a long time, but ultimately lost 2-0.
BVB wants to orientate itself on VfB Stuttgart
In mid-September, VfB Stuttgart showed how successful coach Carlo Ancelotti’s star ensemble can be cracked. The Swabians were close to winning a point for a long time, but in the end they were undeservedly defeated 1:3. Sebastian Kehl is hoping for a similarly courageous performance from Borussia, taking the performance of their Bundesliga rivals as an example.
“We will have our chances. Stuttgart has shown that. The Spaniards offer opportunities and space,” expects the sports director. “I believe that the team will approach the task with total commitment.”
While BVB rarely impressed in the Bundesliga, especially away from home, head coach Nuri Sahin’s team is in first place in the Champions League after victories in Bruges (3-0) and against Celtic (7-1). Real Madrid started the league phase with a win against VfB Stuttgart and a defeat at Lille OSC (0-1).
Source: www.sport.de
