Dortmund ‘obliged’ to hit back against Atletico – Terzic
Manager Edin Terzic said yesterday his Borussia Dortmund side were “obliged” to return fire in today’s home Champions League quarter final against Atletico Madrid after being “punished” in the first leg.
Dortmund trail 2-1 after the first leg in Madrid, where poor individual mistakes allowed Atletico to take a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes.
Dortmund fought back and Sebastien Haller scored to bridge the deficit, although the striker will miss tonight’s clash with injury.
Terzic said Dortmund were “punished” by an “ice-cold” Atletico, but backed his team to turn the tables in front of their 81,500-seat Westfalenstadion crowd and the famous ‘Yellow Wall’ south stand.
“When you go out onto the pitch in front of that stadium and start your warm-up, you are obliged to give everything and show your best,” Terzic told reporters.
“It’s unique. It’s regularly sold out and it has helped us countless times over the years.”
“Before we make a transfer we talk to them and try and show what it means to play for Borussia Dortmund in this stadium.
“We need a good result against Aletico and we’re pretty sure our supporters want to
make that happen and create a good atmosphere.
“So we want to pay them back.”
The 1997 winners are looking to return to the semi-finals for the first time since 2013, when the Jurgen Klopp-coached side went down 2-1 to arch rivals Bayern Munich in the Wembley final.
However, they have made something of a habit of blowing the big occasion on home turf in recent times.
Needing victory against lowly Mainz to guarantee the Bundesliga title on the final matchday of last season, Dortmund could only draw 2-2 at home, handing the title to Bayern.
Earlier in April the club choreographed a day of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the stadium, only to lose 1-0 to third-placed Stuttgart.
Sitting alongside Terzic, Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt played down the idea that Germany’s largest football stadium, when filled to the brim with passionate fans, can also intimidate the home team.
“If I could choose, I’d always choose the atmosphere against
Stuttgart or Mainz. You can’t complain about the atmosphere in Dortmund.
“It’s absolutely unique. As a player you never need to worry about the support of the fans.”
Much of the talk after the first leg was a sideline clash between Atletico manager Diego Simeone and Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl, with the two coming face to face on the sideline after an injury to visiting captain Emre Can.
“We could expect something like that tomorrow, but we shouldn’t focus on that,” said Brandt.
“We should stay calm, patient and more than anything else, focused. We need to beat Atletico that way, not verbally with fights along the sideline.”