Borussia Dortmund want to advance to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday Night. The Black and Yellows carry a 2-1 lead into the second leg against Paris-Saint Germain. The match at the Parc des Princes will happen behind closed doors due to outbreak prevention of the Coronavirus. Coach Lucien Favre and the head of the licensed player division Sebastian Kehl talked about the circumstances ahead of the game.
“I’ve already had the experience with a game behind closed doors,” Favre told reporters at the airport in Dortmund, adding: “There was a game with Servette Genf against Sion without any spectators. It was weird.”
Italy was the first country in Europe to order football games to be played behind closed doors. The 62-year-old wanted to watch the top match between Juventus and Inter Milan on Sunday, however, he said: “I could only watch for two minutes. I wasn’t feeling it.”
Meanwhile, BVB are looking to eliminate PSG from the Champions League on Wednesday.
“We have to play with cleverness and patience and we have to have a big defensive game,” the Swiss coach said, adding: “but we can’t just defend. We have to play like we usually do even though the circumstances are very special. We have to mentally prepare for it because it will be entirely different.”
Head of the licensed player division Sebastian Kehl agreed with the coach’s sentiment. “It will be a very abnormal atmosphere. But regardless of these circumstances, we have shown that we can defend well against PSG. At home, we put down a marker and we’re hopeful that we can put together a similar showing again.”
The German outfit will continue to be without their injured team captain Marco Reus and midfielder Thomas Delaney. However, due to the cancellation of the pre-game news conferences, it is unlikely that more information about the personnel will be made available.
Erling Haaland, who scored a brace against PSG in the first leg, sustained a knock on his back in BVB’s 2-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach and Thorgan Hazard needed to be subbed off due to cramps. However, Favre said after the game on Saturday that both should be able to recover in time and both travelled with the team to France.
