Klopp: "We don't fear Madrid, but we respect them a lot"
"We're
going into the game in a confident mood after our performance against
Manchester City and we hope we'll be able to put in a good display."
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | BORUSSIA DORTMUND V REAL MADRID
23/10/2012
Borussia
Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp spoke to the press ahead of his side's Champions
League tie with Real Madrid on Wednesday.
What's the
situation with your three injured players?
The situation
is different for each player. [Marcel] Schmelzer is recovering well, and so is
[Mario] Gotze but [Ilkay] Gundogan has only been able to train with our fitness
coach. I still don't know which players will be in the starting line-up and
who'll be on the bench, but I can say that Schmelzer and Götze will be in the
squad.
How
important are Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic to Borussia's philosophy?
They are
two crucial players who are vital to the squad. They are both very modern
centre-backs, who do a great job defensively and are very technical. They have
an excellent vision of play and they are very strong in the air. They are the
ones that start our attacks.
How would
you compare Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski? Who is more likely to
score in the game?
Now is not
the time to make comparisons. We're very happy to have Lewandowski and if
people want to know more about him, I recommend they watch him during training
sessions and matches.
What type
of game are you expecting?
It's going
to be a great challenge. Madrid have grabbed my attention in several games,
especially their game against Ajax in Amsterdam [which Madrid won 4-1], where
they really impressed me. They surprised me a lot during that game, especially
Marcelo, who was playing with an injury. We'll have to be at our best in terms
of discipline and we'll have to try and stop Xabi Alonso and especially
Cristiano, Ángel Di María, Gonzalo Higuaín and Karim Benzema. We're going into
the game confident after our performance against Manchester City and we hope
we'll be able to put in a good display.
Do you
think a club the size of Madrid will be affected by the injuries to Marcelo,
Álvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Coentrao?
Perhaps it
won't be easy to replace Marcelo, but Michael Essien played well [against
Celta, at left-back] despite being played out of position. The other full back
will be Ramos, who will be playing in his natural position, where he has played
for most of his career. But I don't think the fact they have a few players
injured will be a big advantage for us.
Do you fear
Madrid due to their ability to break up the play or due to their decisiveness
in front of goal?
I would
never use the word fear, but we have a lot of respect for Madrid. Their key
player is Alonso, because he is the one who starts the play, it's because of
him that they can launch their attacks. We won't wait for them to attack us,
we'll try and impose ourselves on the game. Our defence will be focusing on
whoever has the ball.
Borussia
Dortmund have never lost a game in the Champions League after losing in the
league [they lost to Schalke on the weekend]. Will Madrid have to settle for a
draw, then?
The
journalist who has come up with this question is a specialist in pointless
statistics.
Lukasz
Piszcek has renewed his contract for another year. What did you make of that,
given that Madrid were willing to pay 10 million euros for him?
I'm
delighted he has renewed his contract because I get on with him very well in
person and I like the way he plays. That price tag is attached by scouts and
it's not the price we have said he is worth.
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