What memories do you have from the final in 1997?
"I was 14 years old at the time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in Munich, but I watched it on a big screen in my hometown and I've also watched it a few times since. It was a very special day for all Dortmund fans. I was at the airport with my brother to welcome the team back the following day."

What was your role at BVB at the time of the 2013 final?
"I was already working at BVB back then and had a double function: I was working both as a coach in the youth academy and as a scout. I therefore followed the entire Champions League season from close up. I had one or two assignnments in preparing us for our upcoming opponents. I put together lots of videos of opposition players in order to prepare our players."

How do you prepare for a Champions League final?
"Since the match will be two weeks after the end of the Bundesliga season, it will change the procedure somewhat. Nonetheless, for us it’s important that with all the emotions and enjoyment and the show that goes on alongside it, we keep our focus on the game. We’ll try to approach the match very rationally. Since we got into the final, we have asked ourselves the same question every day for each decision we make: how will this help us to be in our absolute peak form on 1st June? Then we'll try to do everything that got us to the final in the same way we've always done it - the routines in training and in match preparation. It's a little different in terms of organisation, but we don't want to change anything in terms of our approach."

What do you think of the team's development?
"We had a disappointing night in Paris on the opening matchday of the group stage. Then there was only a draw on the second matchday. Nevertheless, you could tell in our third game, when we got our first win in Newcastle, that our confidence was growing. You could see that we still had a lot we could achieve, that we were far from finished in this Champions League season. We got better and stronger from game to game. The performances got better and that got us to the knock-out stage. Of course, the road gets harder and harder from round to round, but it also gets shorter and shorter. We wanted to get as far as possible. We've already done that, we can't go any further than the final. But now we want to take the last step as well."

What do you make of Real Madrid?
"Real Madrid are the club that have won the Champions League 14 times. Not so long ago it was La Decima, and now they've already reached 14 titles. Nevertheless, we know that we've earned our way to the final. We respect the fact that a strong team now await us, a team that have been here many times before. But we also know that anything is possible in one game. And this is our chance. In one game, we are capable of beating any opposition."
Transcribed by Christina Reinke