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Dortmund wants to get away, though with black eye

Xinhua, March 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

The 2014/2015 could well be a "lost " season for Borussia Dortmund, as the 2012 German champion is languishing in the middle of the Bundesliga table without a realistic chance of winning the championship shield.

To qualify for Europe, Dortmund needs a "wonder". The only chance to get away with a black eye is to be successful in the Champions League and the German Cup.

Dortmund, however, has a serious problem. Facing Italian champion Juventus after losing 2-1 in the first leg Wednesday is a mountain to conquer.

Juergen Klopp's side is no longer in danger of being relegated as Dortmund is 10th in the league table. But Dortmund seems to be lost in an identity crisis as the team has become aware that the way back is far from being a piece of cake. Maybe it will be too much of an effort for a squad without a future perspective as the General Manager Michael Zorc and Coach Juergen Klopp will be looking to restructure the squad and try to reverse the mistakes they made when putting together the present squad.

Ironically Juve will face Dortmund asking the same questions as the Italians just do not know what awaits them in Dortmund. Will it be enough to secure their own goal and wait for Dortmund to panic, or are the Germans able to produce a one-hit-wonder after all? Are 80,000 supporters and the unique atmosphere of a thrilling Champions League night enough to change things as Dortmund is a team without a convincing message at present?

Dortmund desperately needs Nuri Sahin to pull the strings in midfield as he did in the first leg. But the midfielder will probably be unable to play because of injury problems.

Sahin is currently is the only one capable of assisting Ilkay Guendogan in Borussia's midfield as the team lately has not managed to adequately support its powerful strikers Marco Reus and Pierre-Emilie Aubameyang who have scored ten of their last 16 goals.

Midfielders Shinji Kagawa and Hendrik Mkhitaryan are far off being in top form. The problem in the spearhead has unfortunately not been solved as Adrian Ramos and Italian Ciro Immobile have not been compensate for the loss of Robert Lewandowski who was transferred to Bayern Munich before the season started.

"We fail to put away too many chances and we have to be much more precise with our final passing," said Reus. As Coach Juergen Klopp expects Juventus to be defensively-minded, he knows that his team will have to be running on all cylinders if they are to have a chance of breaching the Italian back line.

"We don't expect them to attack us in our six-yard-box," assumes the BVB coach, "It's up to us to take the game to them as Juve has time to sit back park the bus until that is we manage to go 1-0 up."

A 1-0 win would suffice for Dortmund to reach the quarterfinals which could give the club an emotional boost. A draw would equate to a victory for the Italians. So Dortmund knows exactly what is needed for a happy end on Wednesday evening. Endite