The Borussia Dortmund coach is aware of the attacking
potency of the opposition on Saturday and believes his makeshift defence will
have to be at their very best.
Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp is calling for his
side to "defend sensationally" during Saturday's clash with
Hoffenheim.
Dortmund are missing a host of key players at the back,
including Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels, as well as defensive midfielders Sven
Bender and Ilkay Gundogan due to injury, while Sokratis is suspended.
Klopp recognises that his makeshift defence, which could
feature youngster Marian Sarr fresh from his Champions League debut midweek,
will have to be at their very best to prevent a free-scoring Hoffenheim from
profiting from their misfortune this weekend.
“We should attack, take our chances, and defend
sensationally,” he said to the club's official website.
BVB were three minutes away from dropping into the Europa
League on Wednesday night, but a late Kevin Grosskreutz strike clinched a 2-1
win against Marseille, and catapulted them above Arsenal and Napoli as
Champions League Group F winners.
Klopp is wary that his team’s midweek exertions may work
against them when they return to the Bundesliga this weekend. The club have
lost three of their last four matches in the league and trail Bayern Munich by
10 points, and the former Mainz coach is eager to get back to winning ways.
“We play very strong, difficult opponents who will try to
exploit our tiredness after Marseille,” he said to the club’s official website.
“We want to squeeze everything out of this [victory]. But
we have our job in the league to do. And [the victory] is not enough to do so.”
The 46-year-old took time to praise 18-year-old defender
Sarr, who was thrown in for his senior debut against Marseille and completed
the full 90 minutes against the French side.
He added: “One cannot imagine what a strain it must have
been for Marian to get his debut in such an important Champions League
game."
Culled from Goal
0 comments:
Post a Comment