Soccer-Real Madrid quarter-final just a bonus for 'overperforming' Dortmund
ATLANTA, Georgia (Reuters) -Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said a date in the Club World Cup quarter-finals against Real Madrid was just a bonus for his overperforming team, who held off a second-half comeback from Monterrey to win 2-1 in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
Two goals from Serhou Guirassy put Dortmund well on top at halftime and Kovac was pleased with how hard they battled after their Mexican opponents stormed back in the second half.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Although Dortmund lost 2-0 to Real in the 2024 Champions League final, they have experienced something of a revival since Kovac took over from Nuri Sahin in February.
They earned a spot in next season's Champions League with a victory over Kiel in their last match of the Bundesliga season and have continued to improve at the Club World Cup.
Kovac came out on top in May when he pitted his wits against new Real coach Xabi Alonso when the Spaniard was in charge at Bayer Leverkusen.
The Croatian might be downplaying their ambitions of going further but Real would be wise to take their challenge seriously, especially if they can replicate Tuesday's first-half performance.
KEY QUOTES
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac: "We are happy. I think we overperformed. We passed the group stage. This is now on top. This is a bonus for us, and now playing against the biggest team and biggest club in the world is a good challenge."
"I think that for us, Borussia Dortmund, and also for German football as a whole, this is a big, big deal."
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac: "We know (Xabi Alonso) very well. So he worked two and a half years in Germany, and he did a fantastic job.
"Now he's implementing everything he had in Leverkusen at Real Madrid. So we're expecting the same what we had in Leverkusen, only with different players.
"We're looking forward to it but you have to play football for 90 minutes, and if we put everything onto the pitch, same performance as we saw today, I think that we will have a good chance."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Body of Liverpool footballer Jota arrives in Portugal for hometown wake
Flower tributes are left outside Liverpool's Anfield Stadium after Liverpool's Portuguese soccer player Diogo Jota died in a car crash near Zamora, Spain, in Liverpool, Britain, July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY GONDOMAR, Portugal (Reuters) -The bodies of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva arrived in northern Portugal on Friday for a wake in their hometown, as tributes continued to pour in after they died in a car accident in Spain. A convoy of hearses left for Gondomar near Porto on Thursday evening from the morgue of Puebla de Sanabria, near where the Lamborghini the brothers were travelling in had veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight early on Thursday. Police said they suspected a tyre had burst. Jota's wife Rute Cardoso, who had married the footballer just weeks earlier, was seen leaving the morgue and joining the convoy, as was Jota's longtime agent Jorge Mendes. A wake is expected to take place at a chapel in Gondomar from 4:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) and a funeral on Saturday at a church nearby at 10:00 a.m. local time, Gondomar's mayor's office said. Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro arrived in the village on Friday morning. The death of Jota at the age of 28 has jolted the world of football, with messages of homage pouring in from former teammates, clubs, national leaders and fans. Outside Liverpool's Anfield stadium fans left flowers, scarves and hand-written notes, many from children. Football clubs including Paris St Germain, who have several Portuguese internationals in their squad, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Real Madrid observed a moment of silence during training for their matches in the Club World Cup taking place in the United States. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said on Thursday that forward Pedro Neto was weighing whether to play in Friday's quarter-final against Palmeiras, as the Portuguese international mourns the tragic death of his close friend. Jota's manager at Liverpool, Arne Slot, said in a statement on Thursday that his thoughts were with his family. "My message to them is very clear – you will never walk alone," Slot said. "For us as a club, the sense of shock is absolute. Diogo was not just our player. He was a loved one to all of us. He was a teammate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special," he added. Jota was making his way back to Liverpool by car after he was told he should avoid plane travel for up to 6 weeks following lung surgery to address a fractured rib, his physiotherapist Miguel Goncalves told broadcaster Now late on Thursday. Goncalves said Jota was recovering well from the pneumothorax surgery and that he had planned to take a ferry to the UK from Spain. (Reporting by Miguel Pereira, Sergio Goncalves and Catarina Demony; writing by Charlie Devereux; editing by Alexandra Hudson)
New Straits Times
8 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Klopp 'heartbroken' by Diogo Jota's death
MUNICH: Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he was "heartbroken" to learn Diogo Jota, who he signed in 2020, had died with his younger brother Andre in a car crash on Thursday. Diogo Jota, 28, died alongside Andre after their vehicle veered off a motorway in northern Spain before bursting into flames. Klopp, who is Red Bull's "head of global soccer", persuaded the Liverpool board to pay £45 million (RM260 million) for Diogo Jota after he impressed at Wolves. "This is a moment where I struggle!" Klopp posted on Instagram. "There must be a bigger purpose! But I can't see it! I'm heartbroken to hear about the passing of Diogo and his brother Andre. "Diogo was a not only a fantastic player, but also a great friend, a loving and caring husband and father! "We will miss you so much! All my prayers, thoughts and power to Rute, the kids, the family, the friends and everyone who loved them! Rest in peace – Love." Diogo Jota was labelled an "exceptional player, exceptional boy," by Klopp early on in the player's spell at Liverpool. Jota took little time to deliver some return on Liverpool's investment, becoming the first player in the club's history to score in his first four home games. He was a key part of Klopp's side that won the League Cup and FA Cup in 2021/22, narrowly missing out on the Premier League and Champions League for what would have been an unprecedented quadruple. - AFP
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Gladbach midfielder Neuhaus suspended from first team for 'unacceptable' video
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Moenchengladbach v Eintracht Frankfurt - Borussia-Park, Moenchengladbach, Germany - February 8, 2025 Borussia Moenchengladbach's Florian Neuhaus reacts during the match REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen (Reuters) -Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder Florian Neuhaus has been fined and banished from the first team after being filmed while appearing to mock the Bundesliga club's sporting director. In a video posted on social media, Neuhaus could be seen talking to several people wearing Gladbach kits about sporting director Roland Virkus. The 28-year-old appeared to call Virkus "the worst manager in the world" and referenced the sporting director's role in deciding his salary of four million euros ($4.71 million) per year. Gladbach said they had imposed a "heavy" fine on Neuhaus and suspended him from training with the first team for four weeks, with German daily Bild reporting the fine was worth around 100,000 euros. "The behaviour and statements of Florian Neuhaus are damaging to the club and unacceptable," Gladbach's CEO Stefan Stegemann said in a statement on Thursday. "He has damaged the club with his words and deeply disappointed the people involved, which is not compatible with the values of the club." Neuhaus joined Gladbach in 2017 and has made over 200 appearances in all competitions for the club, but mainly featured as a substitute last season and played just 17 times in the league as they finished 10th. ($1 = 0.8494 euros) (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
