Pre-Match Report
BVB in Madrid: "We can only do it if we work as a team"
Boris Rupert reporting from Madrid
The Eurowings special flight EW 1909 had to battle a strong headwind on its journey from Dortmund to Madrid. With a delay of just under half an hour, the Airbus A320 landed safely and gently on the runway at Madrid-Barajas international airport at 17:31 CEST. The team and coaches got straight on a bus to the renovated Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. For the team, who had already completed their final training session that morning at the BVB grounds in Dortmund-Brackel, a site visit was planned; for head coach Nuri Sahin and midfielder Julian Brandt, the obligatory press conference.
"I'd like it if we were here with the full squad, but we've got a good team with us," said Sahin. He will be able to fall back on Niklas Süle again tomorrow (who missed the game against St. Pauli), and won't need to worry about Gregor Kobel - although he missed the final training session in Dortmund due to stomach problems, "we're assuming that he will be able to play tomorrow."
"We trained in Dortmund because we have a lot of away games coming up in the next few days, so we wanted to spend as much time as possible in our usual surroundings," said Sahin, adding with a smirk, "It has nothing to do with spies. We have nothing to hide."
The cards are on the table. Since the Champions League Final 20 weeks ago, Real have boosted their ranks with yet another global star: Kylian Mbappé, whom the Borussians successfully knocked out in the semi-finals against Paris Saint-Germain, now wears the white shirt of the kings. "We're talking about the absolute peak of world football. Essentially, you have to defend with all 11 players," said Julian Brandt about Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and co., adding: "We can't give them any space when they get near to our goal. Our defence will be a big focus, but we're not just here to defend. I'm really excited."
Nuri Sahin, who answered the reporters' questions in German, English and Spanish, strongly emphasised that, "We can only do it if we work as a team. The boys know what our plan is for tomorrow. To succeed against Real, you have to play football too. We can't just hang back by our goal. We need confidence and some luck on our side against the reigning champions."
After the strong headwind in the air today, Borussia Dortmund want to put up strong resistance on the pitch tomorrow.
