Just days after a humbling at home by Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic insisted his side would rebound in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Newcastle.
Riding high after a 1-0 win at St James Park in October, Dortmund came plummeting down to earth on Saturday, thrashed 4-0 by a Harry Kane-inspired Bayern.
“It was very disappointing and frustrating,” Terzic told reporters on Monday, revealing his side had a “very open and very honest analysis” of the match on Sunday.
After the game, midfielder Julian Brandt said his side lacked “courage and something in our pants” against Bayern, while goalkeeper Gregor Kobel said he was “fuming” following the performance.
Terzic however said his side were unified and had put the disappointment behind them.
“Our focus now is on moving forward.”
Dortmund had high hopes against an undermanned Bayern but were blown off the park and have now not beaten their southern rivals in the league since 2018.
The loss means Terzic’s previously unbeaten side sit seven points off leaders Bayer Leverkusen after just 10 league match days, well off the pace in the title race.
Dortmund can take a massive step towards qualifying for the Champions League knockout rounds with a win over Newcastle.
Emerging from a group which also includes Paris Saint-Germain and last season’s semi-finalists AC Milan would be an impressive feat.
Newcastle have again found form after the loss to Dortmund and have beaten both Manchester United and Arsenal in the lead-up to Tuesday’s game.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on Monday called the game a “must-win”, but said “it’s in-built in me. I think every game’s a must win”.
“That’s the only way we prepare, we prepare to try and win every game. We never have anything else in our minds, so that’s what we’re going to try and do in this one.”
Meanwhile Howe confirmed Dan Burn would miss “a couple of months” after hurting his spine, with fellow defender Matt Targett also out for several months with a hamstring complaint, the latest in a series of injuries to hit the club.
“You just see who’s fit, who’s available. We’ve added a couple of younger players to the squad, but we’ll go with that. That’s all we can do,” said Howe.
“You’re always going to get injuries, the problem for us is that a lot of the injuries we’ve got currently are on the longer-term scale, which means there’s no relief coming around the corner.”
– ‘Not happy’ –
Terzic warned that Newcastle “were not happy with their performance two weeks ago” and would improve.
“If they’re better, then we’re going to have to be better”.
The 41-year-old coach expected an “open and intense game” and said “we don’t need to be warned about Newcastle — we know how good they are”.
Along with Newcastle’s visit on Tuesday, Dortmund travel to Milan and host PSG in their remaining group fixtures.
“If we want to qualify for the knockout stage, we have to win our home matches” Terzic said.
“We will do everything we can to use our chance to win at home tomorrow and take an important step forward in this group.”
Dortmund could be without captain Emre Can, who is still recovering from a knee injury sustained in the previous match in England.
Left-back Ramy Bensebaini was also a doubt with a thigh problem.
Howe said his side’s meteoric rise in the past few seasons under new Saudi ownership still surprised him, with the club a relegation candidate just two years ago.
Howe revealed that his one objective when taking over at Newcastle in November 2021 was to prevent the side from being relegated.
“To be at this point so soon after those moments is something we don’t take for granted.”
dwi/ea
