mario götze admits borussia dortmund are in for another early european exit unless they can cut out their mistakes. "we have played games which have infuriated us," he said.
mario götze fears that history may be repeating itself as german title holders borussia dortmund find themselves edging towards an early european exit for the second season in succession.
despite dazzling their countrymen with some sparkling attacking football in the bundesliga last year, jürgen klopp's side fell short of a place in the uefa europa league round of 32, finishing behind paris saint-germain fc and sevilla fc in their group. back then, dortmund showed plenty of offensive vim, but were punished for their lapses at the other end. in this season's uefa champions league, they have once more shone in patches, but one point from three group f games tells its own story.
"last year, we were in a similar situation in the europa league; we didn't get the results that our performances deserved or the points that we wanted," said the 19-year-old götze as he pondered tuesday's must-win fixture at home against olympiacos fc. "it's even more annoying that this year the same thing seems to be happening in the champions league. we have played games which have infuriated us."
two points adrift of olympiacos at the foot of the section, dortmund must raise their game immediately if they are to challenge arsenal fc and olympique de marseille for a top-two finish. "we know very well the situation we are in right now," the german international explained. "we have stop making the kind of mistakes we have made, in this season and the last, and play more intelligently."
coach klopp expressed concern in recent weeks that his young side wanted too much too quickly in europe, with counterattacking sides having proved only too eager to exploit their bravado. ahead of this week's game, he noted: "anyone expecting us to go into all-out attack mode against olympiacos and give them more chances on the break should think again. we have 90 minutes to win this game and we need to use them wisely."
götze hopes that sense of urgency will bring the best out of the yellow wall of dortmund fans. "there is always a great atmosphere in this stadium," he said. "we always feel great when we see the yellow wall." however, having hopefully shaken off a groin problem, götze knows it will take cool heads as well as passionate fans to get this campaign back on track. "i think we will win tomorrow," he said. "we just need to get three points and take it from there."
kevin grosskreutz made the difference with a fine strike after just seven minutes as the bundesliga champions registered their first win in group f.
borussia dortmund can allow themselves to believe again after notching their first win in group f, kevin grosskreutz making the difference for the faltering german giants against olympiacos fc.
beaten in their two previous uefa champions league outings, the bundesliga title holders desperately needed a victory to kick-start their campaign. the hunger told with just seven minutes gone as grosskreutz found the net from distance. that early intensity soon faded, however, with olympiacos providing intermittent danger of their own. the hosts greeted the final whistle, confirming their rise above their opponents into third spot, with relief.
jürgen klopp encouraged dortmund's fans to come in good voice for this crucial match and it soon became clear his message had got through. colourful, committed and above all loud, the locals were repaid with a dynamic start from their side. ivan perišić scooped over an early chance before grosskreutz collected mario götze's pass 20 metres out and drove thrillingly past surprise starter balázs megyeri in the olympiacos goal.
grosskreutz himself was an unexpected, inspired, choice ahead of shinji kagawa, but olympiacos threatened to cancel out his maiden european strike not long after, kevin mirallas forcing roman weidenfeller to save low to his right following a counterattack. françois modesto then volleyed over after rafik djebbour had headed a free-kick back across goal, and olof mellberg nodded a corner wide as the visitors ended the half on the front foot.
encouraged by their growing influence on the game, olympiacos had the first look on goal after the break too. german midfielder josé holebas drew a diving save from weidenfeller before 18-year-old moritz leitner, filling in for the injured sven bender in midfield, twice tried his luck from distance at the other end.
neither team seemed capable of locating the guile needed to get close to goal and, when robert lewandowski finally did for dortmund, his chance sprang from an under-hit holebas back pass rather than a moment of magic. stealing in ahead of megyeri, the industrious forward could only curl against the post from close to the byline. eager to make up for his lapse, holebas then headed narrowly off target from a corner.
desire and determination were gaining the upper hand on skill and creativity, but dortmund demonstrated the tenacity required to protect their lead. their next task will be to close on the top two at arsenal fc on 23 november, when olympiacos travel to olympique de marseille.
yardımcı hakemler: nikolai golubev (rus), vyacheslav semenov (rus)
4. hakem: stanislav sukhina (rus)
çizgi hakemleri: sergei karasev (rus), aleksei eskov (rus)
dortmund: roman weidenfeller (gk), neven subotić, sebastian kehl (c), moritz leitner (dk. 86 felipe santana), robert lewandowski, mario götze (dk. 66 shinji kagawa), mats hummels, kevin grosskreutz, Łukasz piszczek, marcel schmelzer, ivan perišić (dk. 75 jakub błaszczykowski)
yedekler: mitchell langerak (gk), lucas barrios, ilkay gündoğan, chris löwe
teknik direktör: jürgen klopp (ger)
olympiacos: balázs megyeri (gk), françois modesto, olof mellberg, ariel ibagaza (dk. 79 marko pantelić), ljubomir fejsa (dk. 59 jean makoun), rafik djebbour, kevin mirallas, josé holebas, avraam papadopoulos (c), iván marcano (dk. 67 djamel abdoun), pablo orbaiz
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