Erling Haaland: Buck up, or we’ll have no chance against Sevilla
Borussia Dortmund go into their Champions League last-16, first-leg tie at Sevilla tomorrow morning (Singapore time) with star striker Erling Haaland urging his teammates to shake off their Bundesliga blues or risk a heavy defeat in Spain.
"We just have to stick to the match plan and try to perform," Haaland told Sky Sports.
"Sevilla are a strong team. We just have to find our form again and do our best on the pitch to have a chance."
"If we play like we did in the last few games, we have no chance," Haaland warned, with Dortmund having won just three of their last eight games in all competitions.
The Norwegian striker netted six goals in Dortmund's first four group games before missing their final two European games with a muscle injury.
Dortmund's fortunes have nosedived since Axel Witsel's strike sealed a 2-1 win at Zenit St Petersburg last December that sealed top spot in Group F.
DEFENSIVE WEAKNESSES
Joy at reaching the last 16 was dampened four days later when Dortmund's defensive weaknesses were brutally exposed in a 5-1 loss at home to VfB Stuttgart.
Lucien Favre was sacked as coach the following day.
His assistant, the 38-year-old Edin Terzic, was promoted to interim coach until the end of the season, but results have not improved, with Dortmund having picked up only 14 league points from a possible 30 since Terzic took over.
Not surprisingly, Dortmund have appointed Borussia Moenchengladbach's highly sought-after coach Marco Rose, 44, to take over next season.
It took a late Haaland goal, his 23rd in as many games this season, to avert defeat in a 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim last Saturday.
The result left Dortmund sixth in the Bundesliga table, 16 points behind leaders Bayern Munich and six points from the Champions League spots.
Failure to qualify again could mean a loss of 30 million euros (S$48.2m). - AFP
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