Soccer-Real Madrid quarter-final only a bonus for 'overperforming' Dortmund

Jul 02, 2025 10:01 AM IST

SOCCER-CLUB-BVB-MTY/ (PIX, TV):Soccer-Real Madrid quarter-final only a bonus for ‘overperforming’ Dortmund

ATLANTA, Georgia, – Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac stated a date within the Club World Cup quarter-finals towards Real Madrid was only a bonus for his overperforming staff, who held off a second-half comeback from Monterrey to win 2-1 within the spherical of 16 on Tuesday.

Soccer-Real Madrid quarter-final only a bonus for ‘overperforming’ Dortmund

Two objectives from Serhou Guirassy put Dortmund properly on high at halftime and Kovac was happy with how onerous they battled after their Mexican opponents stormed again within the second half.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Although Dortmund misplaced 2-0 to Real within the 2024 Champions League last, they’ve skilled one thing of a revival since Kovac took over from Nuri Sahin in February.

They earned a spot in subsequent season’s Champions League with a victory over Kiel of their final match of the Bundesliga season and have continued to enhance on the Club World Cup.

Kovac got here out on high in May when he pitted his wits towards new Real coach Xabi Alonso when the Spaniard was in cost at Bayer Leverkusen.

The Croatian is perhaps downplaying their ambitions of going additional however Real can be smart to take their problem significantly, particularly if they’ll replicate Tuesday’s first-half efficiency.

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 very properly. So he labored two and a half years in Germany, and he did a implausible job.

“Now he is implementing every part he had in Leverkusen at Real Madrid. So we’re anticipating the identical what we had in Leverkusen, solely with completely different gamers.

“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.”

This article was generated from an automatic information company feed with out modifications to textual content.

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