Klopp hails Dortmund spirit

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp praised his side's spirit after their 3-1 win over Mainz on Saturday.

The visitors took the lead at the Coface Arena through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and, although Maxim Choupo-Moting equalised from the spot, two Robert Lewandowski penalties secured Dortmund's victory.

Klopp had the likes of Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic and Marcel Schmelzer out with injury and was delighted with the character his side showed.

Klopp: Draw a fair result against Nurnberg

Marcel Schmelzer opened the scoring at Grundig-Stadion but Per Nilsson's second-half equaliser ultimately saw the visitors drop points for the first time this season

Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp had no complaints after his side were held to a 1-1 draw by Nurnberg on Saturday.

The Schwarzgelben had gone into the game with a 100 per cent record in the Bundesliga and took the lead through Marcel Schmelzer eight minutes before the break.

Klopp: Dortmund were outstanding

The German enjoyed living life on the edge as BVB eventually ran riot against Hamburg, but revealed injury concerns ahead of the Champions League.

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp praised his team's "outstanding" landslide 6-2 victory against Hamburg on Saturday.

Thorsten Fink's men could have dared to think they had secured a point when they drew level at 2-2, but were subsequently unprepared for an avalanche of goals late in the second half as the Schwarzgelben retook the initiative.

Klopp: Guardiola will feel the heat at Bayern

The Dortmund trainer believes his colleague will be under pressure at the Allianz Arena and is confident Robert Lewandowski will continue to give his all for BVB

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has piled the pressure on Pep Guardiola to succeed at Bayern Munich following Jupp Heynckes' spectacular last season in charge.

Heynckes guided Bayern to a historic treble in 2012-13 and many expect them to continue their dominance under the former Barcelona coach following his record of 14 trophies in four years at the Catalan giants.

But Klopp insists it will not be easy being the 68-year-old's successor at the Allianz Arena.

"There could definitely be more appealing working circumstances for a coach. It was rather obvious that it would be like this, though," he was quoted as saying by Bild.

Klopp then went on to praise Guardiola's humble attitude and made it clear he thinks the Spaniard will do a good job at the Bundesliga champions.

"I think that we are all just happy that Pep himself arrived at his unveiling by foot and didn't come hovering into the press room.

"Pep is the most extraordinary coach that comes into mind. He's a very nice guy and incredibly successful. That's not a bad thing for Bayern.

"And the team did not exactly get any worse compared to last season. So one should expect them to do reasonably well."

The BVB coach also had his say on the situation of Robert Lewandowski, who had set his sights on a move to Bayern, but was denied a switch to Dortmund's rivals by club CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.

"I don't have any fear that Robert will no longer give his all. He has said that he wanted a transfer and where he wanted to go. That didn't materialise, but things like that happen," he added.

"The way I know him, there's hardly anyone who is a better professional. It's completely normal that we will not all stay at BVB for the next 100 years.

"Robert is still young and has room for improvement. He can make steps forward at his age and we want to help him achieve this."

Lewandowski's contract with Dortmund expires in 2014 and is widely expected to leave the club for Bayern on a free transfer next year.

Dortmund are like Robin Hood, claims jubilant Klopp

The BVB boss struggled for superlatives when describing his team's performance against the Blancos - eventually settling for the folk hero who robbed the rich and gave to the poor

Jurgen Klopp has claimed Borussia Dortmund are "like Robin Hood" in the wake of the side's 4-1 Champions League semi-final victory over Real Madrid in Wednesday's first leg.

Four goals from Robert Lewandowski fired the Schwarzgelben into a commanding aggregate lead over the Spanish giants, and their coach was left enthused by his players' high-octane approach which brought him back memories of 'total football' advocated by Netherlands in the 1970s.

"[Dortmund] are like this unbelievable team, I can't explain it in English ... we are like Robin Hood," the 45-year-old told Sky Sports.

"It was brilliant, they did not stop, I brought on two defensive players and they ran into the box and that was total football. It was great to see."

Klopp then gave his analysis on the match, and while he admitted that Dortmund temporarily succumbed to Madrid's strengths after flying out of the traps, he was delighted to see his team respond to his half-time instructions.

"It was unbelievable, a great game from my team, it was so difficult to play because Madrid are so strong, so fast and so brilliant on the counter-attack," he added.

"I think the first 25 minutes were great and then we lost our game a little bit - not by much, but enough to let them come up and they equalised.

"So I told them at the break 'maybe you think the referee made a wrong decision [referring to the penalty shout], but in the last game we had a decision go against us and we were the winners'.

"This is what we wanted to do, and we went back to playing like we did during the first 25 minutes."

Dortmund boss Klopp dismisses Dzeko talk

The Manchester City striker has previously revealed he will one day return to Bundesliga, but the German champions' manager insists he will not be arriving at Westfalenstadion

Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has dismissed reports linking Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko with a move to the Bundesliga champions.

The Bosnia international revealed in February that he "would love" a return to Germany after a successful four-year spell with Wolfsburg between 2007 and 2011.

But Dortmund general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke similarly rejected claims in the press on Tuesday, and now Klopp has followed suit.

"This is total nonsense and no more funny," Watzke told sports news agency SID.

Dzeko scored 85 goals during his time in Bundesliga, and has admitted that infrequent appearances for the Premier League champions could force him to look elsewhere for regular first-team football - despite being City’s top goalscorer this season with 13 goals in all competitions.

And Klopp, regardless of a large financial windfall from Dortmund’s run in the Champions League this term, insists a move for the striker, who cost City £27 million two years ago, would be infeasible for his club.

Klopp, who previously described Dzeko as "extraordinary", added at a press conference on Thursday: "Dzeko is a good player but he is sadly beyond our means."

Dortmund’s current first-choice striker, Robert Lewandowski, has long been linked with a move away from Westfalenstadion – with Manchester United reportedly long-term admirers.

Klopp enjoys 'extraordinary moment' after Dortmund triumph

The BVB trainer was delighted to see off Shakhtar in the second leg of their knockout tie, while midfielder Mario Gotze also heaped praise on his team's performance

Jurgen Klopp could not hide his joy after Borussia Dortmund advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals by defeating Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 in the second leg of their round of 16 clash.

Dortmund dominated the encounter at Signal Iduna Park from start to finish, with goals from Felipe Santana, Mario Gotze and Jakub Blaszczykowski sending the Bundesliga champions through to the last eight by a 5-2 aggregate scoreline.

And the quality of the performance was not lost on Klopp, who told Sky Sport: “This is an extraordinary moment, and it feels like an extraordinary moment.

“We saw during the second half how strong Shakhtar can be if you let them play. But we played great for 80 minutes and did not let their offence come into the match.”

The coach’s sentiments were also echoed by Gotze, who was impressive throughout the match, scoring one and setting up another during the first half.

“It was an amazing match, and we had great chances,” the 20-year-old told reporters.

“The first two goals made us very calm, and after the third goal, we played magnificently.”

Dortmund, who are in action next in the Bundesliga for a Revierderby against Schalke on Saturday, join Real Madrid as the first two teams in the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals.