Dortmund boss Edin Terzic ready for Champions League fight: ‘We know Real Madrid are favorites, we don’t care’

LONDON – Edin Terzic is not unaware of the widespread consensus that Real Madrid are the big favorites in tomorrow’s Champions League final. The Borussia Dortmund coach simply doesn’t care. After all, his side have made a habit of upsetting the oddsmakers on their way to Wembley.

Coming into the Champions League proper, few believed that Dortmund, who would finish fifth in the Bundesliga, would make it out of the group, let alone finish ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle United. After facing a tricky draw with PSV Eindhoven in the round of 16, BVB were seen as a great draw for Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Both fell in front of the Yellow Wall, the latter failing to score a goal in 180 minutes of football.

Real Madrid may be their biggest test yet, but it does not inspire fear in Terzic, who 11 years ago was among the Dortmund fans at Wembley who saw their team fall at the final hurdle against Bayern Munich.

“Of course they are favourites,” said Terzic. “We don’t care. We weren’t favorites against Atlético or Paris either. It’s about us. If we are brave, if we are ready to show that we don’t want to see how Real Madrid lift the next trophy, if we give them a game, then We’ll have a chance.”

The Dortmund coach added: “If we play 10 times against Real Madrid it will be very difficult. Thirty-four, impossible.

“It’s about the game. We’ve played so many this season, 60 in total. We’ve had 60 games to prepare for tomorrow. This is our part of history.”

Away from the Champions League, it has been a difficult season for Dortmund and Terzic. In the Bundesliga in particular, the shadow of losing the title to Bayern Munich on the final day of last year loomed large. Last season’s champions fell, but the runners-up fell even more. This time they were nine points behind their usual rivals. The real problem is that they were 27 behind Bayer Leverkusen.

In fact, if it weren’t for their exploits in Europe – along with strong performances from Bayern Munich and Leverkusen – Dortmund would go into this game knowing they needed to win the Champions League to compete next season. Even the road to Wembley started in reverse, with the first two group stage games resulting in zero goals scored, two conceded and a single point. Now, what their coach calls a “totally different team” have the chance to see the beautiful side of a sport that has been so cruel to them since Jurgen Klopp’s back-to-back titles in Germany.

Reflecting on the heartache of last season’s final day, Terzic said: “This is part of our life. Part of our path to success. It’s not the prettiest chapter of my life, but the most important. No matter the no matter how difficult it is, get up and try again.

“We didn’t come so close in the Bundesliga, but now we’re here in the final. This is the most beautiful part of sport. Last season we discovered how difficult it can be. Now we’ve discovered how beautiful it is.” could it be.”

The coach’s optimism is shared by his players. The run to the Champions League final was made by Nico Schlotterbeck, the 24-year-old who won praise for his performances for the side veteran defender Mats Hummels. While there has certainly been good fortune in their record of just nine goals conceded in 12 Champions League matches, keeping Kylian Mbappe and co goalless in both matches has given Dortmund the belief they can do the same with Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and his former teammate Jude Bellingham.

“We kept a clean sheet against Paris twice,” said Schlotterbeck. “This is not normal. Now we also know that we can beat any opponent in the world. If we all believe in that tomorrow, we will also have a good chance of winning.”

Match organizer Julian Brandt added: “Our Champions League season gives us courage. Now we have the final opponent. It’s the best there is, but we all have absolute faith. If it had been different, we might well have stayed at home “.