Niko Kovac mentioned his Borussia Dortmund gamers should dig deep to spice up their confidence forward of their Champions League play-off second leg in opposition to Sporting CP.
Kovac watched on as Dortmund have been crushed by lowly Bochum 2-0 within the Bundesliga on Saturday, leaving them languishing in eleventh place within the German top-flight.
However Kovac, who changed Nuri Sahin as BVB’s coach earlier this month, notched the primary victory of his tenure in a 3-0 win over Sporting within the first leg of their play-off tie.
Dortmund’s win within the first leg was the twelfth time they’ve gained the primary leg of a serious European knockout stage tie away from house, progressing in every of the final 11.
They’ve additionally gained 4 of their 5 conferences with Sporting in all competitions (L1), with each of their earlier house video games in opposition to them ending 1-0.
Dortmund have solely misplaced considered one of their final 15 house matches within the Champions League (W10 D4), with that lone defeat coming to Barcelona in December (2-3).
The German aspect have additionally netted 33 objectives throughout these 15 matches, at a mean of two.2 per outing, however Kovac mentioned previous outcomes are a distant reminiscence for his aspect.
“I’m a soccer coach, and it’s not the tip of this play-off, simply the primary half,” Kovac advised a press convention on Tuesday, forward of the second leg for a spot within the final 16.
“As coach you must attempt to give the gamers that self-confidence.
“By way of good coaching, good matches, by way of wins. As a coach, I see the outcomes but additionally the nice issues that we do. We’ve got to multiply these in matches,” he added.
“These gamers are gamers of top of the range, however for the time being the pinnacle is the important thing issue.”
#BVBSCP ladt… #UCL pic.twitter.com/jmLoCK92GZ
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) February 18, 2025
Dortmund’s struggles within the Bundesliga this season have seen them drop eight factors adrift of the ultimate Champions League qualifying spot within the German top-flight.
Certainly, a lot of their failures have come from their very own doing, with Niklas Sule’s weak backpass gifting Giorgos Masouras Bochum’s second purpose of their final Bundesliga defeat, which has been a narrative of their marketing campaign thus far.
Within the Bundesliga this season, solely Bochum, RB Leipzig (each seven), Eintracht Frankfurt and Holstein Kiel (each eight) have made extra errors resulting in objectives than Dortmund (5).
“3 times up to now matches we allowed our opponents to run alone in direction of purpose. We’ve got to minimise these issues,” Kovac mentioned.
“It’s about enjoyable the pinnacle, resetting it,” he added. “What helps is coaching, success in coaching and most of all, wins.
“We’re not silly to say that this tie is completed. We’ve got to play as intensely as we are able to. We are able to’t say we play solely 50%, not within the Champions League.”
