Dortmund hoping to maintain the ‘feel-good’ factor against Inter

Borussia Dortmund and their under-fire coach Lucien Favre hope to maintain the ‘feelgood’ factor from back-to-back wins as they chase Champions League revenge at home to Inter Milan tonight.

A below-par performance saw Dortmund crash to a 2-0 defeat in Milan a fortnight ago, sparking reports Jose Mourinho was waiting in the wings to replace Favre unless results improved, which the club denied.

The German media piled into Favre after forward Lautaro Martinez give Inter a first-half lead, then had a late penalty saved, before winger Antonio Candreva raced clear to seal Dortmund’s defeat at the San

Siro. Favre’s team were short of ideas against a water-tight defence and only Roman Burki’s fine save from Martinez’s penalty prevented a rout in Milan. Dortmund have since improved but are under pressure to beat Inter at home in order to stay on course for the knock-out phase.

A goalless draw at Schalke last weekend was backed-up by dumping Bundesliga leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach out of the German Cup in midweek before trouncing Wolfsburg 3-0 on Saturday in the league.

“We have already beaten quite a few other teams here,” said winger Julian Brandt, hoping

Signal Iduna Park will be a factor against Inter. With one eye on the Italians, Favre said it was “nice to see” his side has broken their habit of conceding late goals amid nervous defending.

However, “we need a win,” insisted sports director Michael Zorc, who hoped beating Wolfsburg “will give us the necessary self-confidence”, especially with a crunch Bundesliga tie at Bayern Munich looming on Saturday.

Both Inter and Dortmund come into tonight’s tie on four points from three games, each with a win, a defeat and draw.

Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has called for an “open conversation” on VAR after another weekend of controversy in the Premier League as he prepares his team to face Ajax in the Champions League.

Chelsea endured a nervy end to their match against Watford on Saturday after their 2-0 lead was halved by a VAR-awarded penalty converted by Gerard Deulofeu.

Lampard, speaking ahead of his side’s game against the Dutch champions at Stamford Bridge, said tweaks needed to be made over the use of the technology.

“I think the use of the screen on the side of the pitch can be a help because we’ve seen this weekend in the Premier League decisions that firstly they’ve taken a long time to get to, which seems to bring in the fact that there’s an element of doubt,” he said.