Marcel Schmelzer knows how to keep a clean sheet. And it’s not a distant memory. He was, after all, part of the BVB team that set up a new club record by conceding only 22 goals in 34 games in the 2010/11 Bundesliga season.

Schmelzer was also in the Borussia Dortmund side that kept a clean sheet in two games this season, against Bayern Munich and Arsenal FC.

Marcel, what will be the key for BVB to do well tonight in front of an emotional Anderlecht crowd?

We have to stop the things that, particularly last week, haven’t worked out so well, be focussed in defence in the crucial moments, especially in our own half. We will have to remain focussed for the entire 90 minutes and should not be afraid to make mistakes. We should, however, limit them to their half, and above all not commit them in our penalty area.

It may be a coincidence, but the only two clean sheets BVB have recorded this season came against big-name and attacking-minded teams – Bayern Munich and Arsenal FC. Do you have an explanation for it?

It’s difficult to find an explanation for it. But we know that we are capable of keeping a clean sheet, and we could have achieved one against Mainz, Stuttgart or Schalke. But there were one or two situations where we weren’t fully focussed, maybe even lacked conviction to clear the danger. But we know what we have to do in tonight’s game.

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