Champions League - Final in a tense atmosphere: BVB hopes to win the group
Flying high internationally, in crisis mode domestically: Borussia Dortmund go into the final match for the group win in the Champions League with the best chances, but are still in a low mood.
BVB, who have slipped to fifth place in the Bundesliga, lead Group F ahead of their clash with rivals Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday (21:00/DAZN) and would already be through to the final with a draw. That could ease the pressure on Edin Terzic, which has grown recently. "We will be asked to fight against all odds. We will do everything we can to emerge victorious from the group stage," said the criticized coach.
Focused Terzic
Only one win from the last six Bundesliga games and the cup exit in Stuttgart brought Borussia and its coach unpleasant headlines. The German newspaper "Bild" even described the three games to the end of the first half of the season against Paris, Augsburg and Mainz as "final mood games for Terzic". The coach is not currently thinking about how to strengthen BVB during the winter break: "The priority for me now is to think about the fact that we have three important games in the next six days."
Nico Schlotterbeck is confident that BVB will quickly get back on track and sees no reason for actionism: "We have a good atmosphere in the team and at the club. We'll try to maintain that," said the defender, commenting on media reports to the contrary. The 24-year-old is hoping for a similarly strong performance from his team as against Newcastle United (1:0/2:0) and AC Milan (3:1): "We performed better in the Champions League than in the Bundesliga."
A similar cautious and defensive approach to the 2-0 defeat in Paris in mid-September is not to be expected, according to Terzic. "If we are courageous, if we bring energy onto the pitch, we can cause opponents a lot of problems." When asked whether his team would like to take revenge for the 2-0 defeat in Paris, the coach replied: "I think revenge is the wrong word in sport. It motivates us to win games. We're playing here in front of over 81,000 spectators, that's motivation enough."
Avoiding tough opponents in the round of 16
With a successful first-round finish against the French, who are still threatened with Champions League elimination, BVB could avoid difficult opponents in the round of 16 such as Manchester City, FC Arsenal, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, who have already been confirmed as group winners, and hope for an easier task in the draw on December 18 in Nyon.
To Terzic's delight, defender Mats Hummels, who is suspended after his red card against Leipzig (2:3) in the Bundesliga, will be available. However, captain Emre Can will be missing due to his third yellow card. Whether Marcel Sabitzer and Marius Wolf will return to the squad will be decided at short notice. The absence of full-back Wolf would be particularly problematic, as his supposed replacement Thomas Meunier has not been registered for the Champions League and is therefore not allowed to play. There is therefore a strong argument for Niklas Süle to play on the wing.
PSG coach Enrique: "We will win"
Former Dortmund player Ousmane Dembélé was spared a whistle. The dribbling artist, who fell out of favor with BVB fans when he went on strike for FC Barcelona in 2017, is missing the Ligue 1 leaders through yellow card suspension.
Despite the unfavorable starting position, coach Luis Enrique goes into the match with a lot of confidence: "Big clubs play big matches every month. If you don't like the pressure, you can't sign for a big club. We can win the game tomorrow and we will win the game tomorrow."
The Dortmund police rate the match as a high-risk game and are preparing for 4,000 fans from France. There were several arrests at the last clash in Dortmund in 2020.
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Source: www.stern.de
