Bochum next as Dortmund need to confirm ‘outstanding statement’

Borussia Dortmund hope that their 3-0 victory at Sporting in the Champions league is a really statement towards more successful times overall in an up and down season.

The win in Lisbon thanks to an impressive second half sees Dortmund close to a last 16 berth which they are expected to clinch in the return leg at home next week.

But in-between Niko Kovac’s team must also deliver in a visit to Bundesliga bottom club Bochum.

Dortmund have done better in the Champions League than in the Bundesliga lately, reaching the final last season while coming fifth in the league.

Now they are 11th in the Bundesliga, seven points away from the top four guaranteeing Champions League football, which is their minimal goal for the season.

Dortmund’s managing director for sport Lars Ricken spoke of an “outstanding statement” by the team in Lisbon but quickly moved on.

“Now it is important to really show the determination to confirm it. Tick off the match, Bochum are waiting. We must take this confidence to Bochum,” Ricken said.

Midfielder Pascal Gross said: “We would like to play well more often. You could tell in the first half that we weren’t brimming with confidence. We fought our way into the game and played a decent second half. Only victories give you confidence.”

Dortmund have performed poorly in the league more often than not after a mid-week game in Europe, getting just one victory from the eight games so far this season, losing four and drawing three.

Kovac was happy with the team’s performance after a sluggish first half as he praised its “physicality, mentality and aggression” after the break.

Serhou Guirassy, Gross and Karim Adeyemi scored for Kovac’s first victory after his debut at the helm had ended in a 2-1 home defeat against VfB Stuttgart.

“As an athlete, you need victories. I hope that has an impact for us going forward. But we also don’t want to blow everything out of proportion,” Kovac said.

“Now we go to Bochum and they [the players] also know that it won’t be easy in Bochum.”