Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid preview - Mourinho hopes for third time lucky

Posted Wednesday, April 24, 2013 by PA

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho hopes this is the year his star-studded side finally get their hands on the Champions League trophy after coming up agonisingly short in the last two seasons.

Defeats to Barcelona and Bayern Munich ended their previous adventures in the competition but Mourinho hopes it will be third time lucky when they take on Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night and that his team can then go on to lift the trophy he believes they deserve to win.

"We have a way of playing which is well-known, we've been on the brink for three years and we have a style of the play that guarantees quality," he said.

"I would like football to do justice to our players because with a few exceptions, none of them have won this competition so far and we've never won it as a team, and they deserve to do so."

"We've fallen in two semi-finals, one is best forgotten (against Barcelona) and the other on penalties (against Bayern) in a very tough manner.

"Hopefully football will now be fair with my players."

He added: "At this club to finish second is not enough, nor is it to reach the semi-finals.

"We need to give our maximum to reach the final."

Madrid met Dortmund in the 1998 Champions League semi-finals and knocked the then holders out 2-0 aggregate defeat before going on to lift the trophy themselves.

Dortmund have had the better of the meetings between two in the season's competition though, winning 2-1 at home in the group stages before drawing 2-2 at the Bernabeu in a match which saw Madrid net an 89th-minute equaliser through Mesut Ozil.

Mourinho concedes his side will need to defend better than in those games, saying: "All the goals they scored against us in the group stages were our own mistakes. We could have avoided them.

"In this tie we will have to be much better focused defensively. We will be more solid. If they score against us they need to be fantastic goals or because we haven't been able to do anything about them."

Mourinho, whose side could lose their Primera Division title to Barcelona this weekend if results go against them, opted to reveal at his pre-match press conference what his side will be for the first leg, with the only question mark being winger Angel Di Maria who is set to travel to Germany tomorrow following the birth of his child.

Mourinho has again preferred Diego Lopez to Iker Casillas in goal, while Sergio Ramos will line up at right-back, Fabio Coentrao will play at left-back with Marcelo out injured and Gonzalo Higuain will start up front ahead of Karim Benzema.

In announcing his team, Mourinho added: "We hope that Di Maria plays, who has had a happy day with the birth of his daughter but a tough day emotionally."

Regarding the clash with Dortmund, Mourinho said: "The tie is 50-50. Both teams have the same chance of going through.

"(Jurgen) Klopp is a great coach. I don't know him very well but he's genuine, honest.

"When I read that he doesn't concern himself at all with Real Madrid and is only concerned about his team, I cannot expect anything else than a Borussia who will come out and give it everything and be attacking."

Klopp has urged his side's fans not to vent their frustration at today's revelation that Mario Gotze will be joining Bayern Munich this summer and focus their efforts only on supporting the team during the Champions League clash.

Klopp's pre-match press conference ahead of the first leg was dominated by talk about Gotze following this morning's shock announcement the attacking midfielder would be joining new Bundesliga champions Bayern on July 1.

The news of the 20-year-old's impending departure has been greeted by fierce criticism from Dortmund supporters, and the timing could hardly have been worse for the club ahead of the visit of Madrid to the Westfalenstadion.

However, Klopp does not want the transfer bombshell to be an issue amongst the fans when Dortmund take the field - pointing out the team come before any individual.

He said: "If anybody doesn't manage to realise how much effort has gone into getting us to where we are, then maybe they should not bother turning up.

"It is now up to every single one of us to show that Borussia Dortmund comes first.

"If anybody cannot hide their disappointment, then it would be nice if they would pass their tickets onto somebody who can. This team deserves to be supported.

"Since this will be my last chance to appeal to our fans, I want to say once again: leave the negative thoughts at home, come here and give us everything you've got and let us beat Real Madrid."

He added: "This chance is too big for us to concern ourselves with any other issues. The Real game is far too important."

Dortmund are in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 1998 and this clash has been presented as 'The most spectacular home game in the history of Borussia Dortmund' on the Bundesliga club's website.