Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp says his side is capable of repeating history and knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League.
The Bundesliga side visit the Spanish capital on Wednesday night with a much changed side from 12 months ago when they beat Los Blancos 4-3 overall at the semi-final stage. Star playmaker Mario Goetze has been sold to Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski is suspended from the first leg, with Dortmund are also missing the injured Ilkay Gundogan, Marcel Schmelzer and Jakub Blaszczykowski.
But speaking to journalists ahead of the game, charismatic boss Klopp says the Schwarzgelben have enough to beat the nine-time European Cup winners.
“There is no doubt that we are the underdogs, the Cinderella of this tie. But I always say we don’t have to be the best team in the world, we just have to be able to beat the best team in the world in a head-on clash and Dortmund can beat the best,” he said.
And Klopp added: “That’s the most important thing for me. Dortmund will take their chances and, who knows, we might even win! I don’t think we’re worse than last season. It’s been a very difficult season from the beginning. We have faced extraordinary challenges and an unprecedented injury crisis. I’ve never seen anything like it. But, in spite of everything, we are on the road to achieving all the goals we set ourselves at the start of the season. So you can’t talk about us playing worse or not being as strong as we were.”
He went on to admit Los Blancos are looking a stronger outfit than they were last season, and have bought well in the transfer market. They have bought some good players like Bale and Isco,” he added. “They have tremendous strength in every position, a full team of skilled players capable of success in all the competitions they play in.”
