Real beaten. Bayern beaten. And still, on the way home from Saturday’s game in Munich, there was only one topic of conversation among the players: the DFB Cup semi-final against VfL Wolfburg. On Tuesday, Borussia Dortmund will be looking to clear the final hurdle on the road to Berlin. Kick-off is at 2030 CET.

“We will be treating every hour as recovery time,“ said Jürgen Klopp on Monday afternoon. Saturday’s game in Munich has taken a lot out of the players, and “we still don’t know whether all players will be at 100 percent.” But “minor knocks” will hardly stop any of them from competing in a semi-final, and so the key question is not who will be fit to play but who will be pencilled in for a starting role by the coach.  There’s been a lot of rotation in the team recently, with Friedrich, Jojic and Kirch, three players who have seen little playing time this season, forcing themselves into contention.

“It’s not going to be easy“
“It’s important that we are able to bring in a freshness,” said Klopp, referring primarily about “positions that require a lot of running, but that are incredibly important for our rhythm and our pressing of the ball.” Tactically, the Dortmund coach has a lot of options at his disposal against a side that likes to play, as Klopp put it, “square passes, diagonal passes, square passes”. Set up in a 4-1-4-1 formation and fighting back from a half-time deficit (“The best news was that we were only 1-0 behind”), his side produced a stunning second-half display to beat the Wolves 2-1 in the Bundesliga less than two weeks ago. “All the measures we put in place against Real and Bayern as well as at half-time against Wolfsburg have borne fruit,” said Klopp.

At the crucial stage of the season, Borussia Dortmund are in great form. Now they are up against a side Klopp considers to be one of the best in the Bundesliga. “Anyone who has seen Wolfsburg in action last weekend will attest that it’s not going to be easy,” said the BVB coach, adding that the game between the Black n Yellows and the Green n Whites is “worthy of a semi-final.”

Another 125,000 metres towards the final
Tuesday’s match is the final hurdle on the road to Berlin, and BVB are looking to clear t. “We have a small advantage as we are playing at home,” said Klopp who’s hoping for an atmosphere to rival that of the match against Real Madrid last Tuesday. “We will try to turn a small advantage into a huge advantage.”

It won’t be necessary for the Dortmund coach to say much to his team. “The DFB Cup has been in the back of our minds all year long. Every metre we have run in the cup so far has been one on the way to Berlin.” On Tuesday, they will cover another 125,000 metres or so towards their goal …