dpa
Freiburg, Germany
Borussia Dortmund travel to Barcelona for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg match with confidence after a second straight Bundesliga victory.
Dortmund won 4-1 in Freiburg on Saturday, a week after a 3-1 over Mainz, and believe that this turnaround in a modest domestic season can also inspire them in Europe against the Spanish league leaders.
"We have a mega opportunity in the Champions League, where we can play with freedom and will try to get everything possible against a very, very strong opponent,” goalkeeper Gregor Kobel said.
"The two victories against direct rivals were very, very important.
We still have big ambitions.” Dortmund reached the Champions League final last year while finishing only fifth in the Bundesliga. They now climbed into eighth in the league after the wins over Freiburg and Mainz, who are both ahead of them, in a late push to secure a place in Europe.
"The next important game is in Barcelona, a very different challenge because we’re up against one of the strongest teams in Europe there.
We’ll have to be able to defend well. You could already see today that we’re capable of that,” coach Niko Kovac said.
Kovac will have Nico Schlotterbeck and Yan Couto back from suspensions in Freiburg, Serhou Guirassy and Felix Nmecha got their first minutes there after injury, and Chelsea loanee Carney Chukwuemeka was in the starting 11 for the first time and scored.
Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl named Barca, who drew 1-1 with Real Betis on Saturday and are coached by former Bayern Munich and Germany helmsman Hansi Flick, "an outstanding team. But we still believe we have a chance in these two games. We’ll try to put ourselves in a good position” for the home leg, Kehl said.
