Pre-Match Report
Sebastian Kehl: "We can only win together as a team"
Sebastian Kehl on the analysis of the Augsburg match:
"Very critical, which is normal in this situation. We discussed this internally at length on Sunday, both as a group and in individual discussions. We will of course try to do much better tomorrow. We have to, because otherwise we won't go through."
…the approach against Lille:
"The primary objective tomorrow will be to stand strong, to fight back and to tear ourselves apart for Borussia Dortmund. It is a final, we want to reach the next round, we need to show a better performance, but above all we need to be present physically and show courage, but also a certain degree of optimism. All of those are things that the coach clearly pointed out on Sunday, both in his critical analysis and in his attempts to solve the problems. And that's why I'm very confident about tomorrow's game, even if it won't be an easy task."
…OSC Lille:
"We have of course seen Lille again, we watched them at the weekend. We saw the opportunities that they gave us in the reverse fixture, but also the things that they do very well. You could feel that in the second half. The main objective in this final will be not to make any mistakes, to stay calm, to trust the plan and to wait for the moment. The game could go into extra time or even a penalty shoot-out. It's a real final, but it's also a great opportunity to be back among the top eight in Europe in this competition. We'll need the right match plan for that and possibly one or two players who will come in and decide the game."
…the personnel:
"We can only win together as a team. We will see who makes it onto the pitch. But it's clear that we need all the players. We didn't do a lot of things well as a group on Saturday. I believe that the team as a whole needs to learn from these situations. We had a great opportunity on Saturday, but tomorrow we're playing in another competition in which we've been very successful so far. We played a very good first half at home to Lille and we are in a position, with lots of optimism and courage, to win this game tomorrow, to progress to the next round and to reach the last eight."
…the current situation:
"It does of course weigh heavy, that is clear. We had two good matches against Union and St. Pauli and we had a big opportunity against Augsburg. It is all about continuing to work hard. I can promise this to every Borussia Dortmund fan: the team will continue to try everything. Nobody goes into the game to lose or play badly. Our task is to give the boys confidence again. Because at the end of the day, they are capable of winning tomorrow and winning Bundesliga matches again."
Transcribed by Christina Reinke