"It's not all over for us!" A little over 24 hours prior to kick-off in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 16 away at Salzburg, Peter Stöger first faced the press before inspecting the somewhat rough pitch with his team in the reigning Austrian champions' arena shortly after.

Boris Rupert reports from Salzburg

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Borussia Dortmund wish to make amends on Thursday evening (kick-off 21.05 CET) for their 1-2 defeat in the first leg of the tie, and progress to the next round with an away win. They are aiming to score three goals in order to guarantee their progression. The manager has not prepared his team separately for the eventuality of penalties (which would be the case if the score stands at 2-1 for BVB after 120 minutes). The pressure of such a scenario cannot be artificially recreated.

"It is not already over for us tomorrow!", stated Stöger at the press conference, before promptly adding: "But we will have to put in a much better performance. Our task is much more difficult now, but it can be accomplished."

Be proactive, control the match – this is what the senior team players have on their 'to-do' list once again for the second leg. "Not much has changed", opined the manager, "but we have got to do better this time." The suggestion was that in contrast to a league match, there is the opportunity to make good the result of the first leg in a knockout round. "We need to create more chances on goal and be more varied in our attacks", contributed Maximilian Philipp: "We know that we were too static and made life difficult for ourselves, in defence too. We must work together as a unit and defend compactly." 

Borussia Dortmund will gift the hosts a record crowd – but that is where it should end. "Despite everything, we have a healthy amount of confidence", explained Peter Stöger: "We did of course lose the first leg, and it was a poor performance, but we have not lost a league game since the middle of December. That means we should be capable of winning the match in Salzburg."