Holders Borussia Dortmund are aiming to shatter Bayern Munich's "perfect season" when Germany's top two teams collide in tomorrow's crunch German Cup quarter-final in a repeat of last season's final.
"For them, it's a perfect season, for us it is like a Champions League away game," said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp with Bayern a commanding 17 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, with Borussia second in the league.
"We know that we are one of the few clubs on the planet who can beat Bayern. "We have ambitions in this competition, but we need a good performance. "You can't beat Bayern by playing at just 98 percent."
The match at Munich's Allianz Arena is the plum tie of the cup quarter-finals with seemingly unstoppable Bayern up against last season's domestic double winners Dortmund. "These are the two best teams in Germany. I reckon the whole nation is looking forward to it - and so are we," said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.
Having hammered Bayern 5-2 in last May's German Cup final, when Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick, Dortmund have plenty of experience of beating their Bavarian rivals in recent years.
Bayern have not beaten Dortmund in a league or cup match since February 2010, although they did enjoy a 2-1 Supercup final win in August over Borussia in a pre-season warm-up for the Bundesliga's top sides.
Bayern are clearly investing heavily in Wednesday's game as coach Jupp Heynckes rested several stars for last Saturday's 6-1 hammering of Werder Bremen at the Allianz Arena.
Lahm, Dutch wing Arjen Robben and Brazil centre-back Dante were also all given Monday off by Heynckes to rest up for the match. "We have huge ambitions in the cup and are highly motivated," said Heynckes.
No comments:
Post a Comment