Borussia Dortmund hasn’t beaten Real Madrid in their last six matches, so they’ll be out today eager for revenge.
This is a crucial match for the financial aspirations of Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at MetLife Stadium. Both teams are playing for millions of euros and a place in the Club World Cup semifinals. Xabi Alonso’s team is the clear favorite, but anything can happen in 90 minutes. The big question mark for Real Madrid is whether Gonzalo or Kylian Mbappé will start, with the Frenchman practically 100% recovered from his acute gastroenteritis.
Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac also appeared before the media last night to discuss one of the most important matches since he took over as manager of the German club. He’s aware of the difficulty, but he won’t waver: « We’re coming in as the underdog, but we also want to put our best foot forward and, hopefully, we believe we will, advance to the next round. »
« WE NEED A LOT OF CONFIDENCE »
Real Madrid has changed coaches and has two new faces in the starting eleven, but they remain just as formidable: « I see a lot of Bayer Leverkusen in this Real Madrid. Xabi is implementing that style of football and way of playing. But the quality of the players is better here. If they were top at Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid is top at the top, » added Niko Kovac about the new Real Madrid project.
On the other hand, he wanted to motivate his players in the press room: « They know exactly what it means to play against Real Madrid. » He also believes they will be capable, given what they saw in the last Bundesliga: « We played against great rivals, and the players showed that they are capable of competing with all of them. So I think this is a big reason to trust my players. »
