- Title: Dortmund, Benfica ready for Champions League clash
- Date: 13th February 2017
- Summary: LISBON, PORTUGAL (FEBRUARY 13, 2017) (REUTERS) WIDE OF BENFICA STADIUM WITH BORUSSIA DORTMUND ON THE PITCH BORUSSIA DORTMUND ON THE PITCH TEAM LISTENING TO COACH BORUSSIA DORTMUND COACH THOMAS TUCHEL TALKING TO PLAYERS AND RUNNING WITH THEM (SOUNDBITE) (German) BORUSSIA DORTMUND COACH THOMAS TUCHEL SAYING: "It's a great task for us to play against Benfica tomorrow, playing
- Embargoed: 27th February 2017 20:49
- Keywords: Benfica Borussia Dortmund Champions League soccer Thomas Tuchel
- Location: LISBON, PORTUGAL
- City: LISBON, PORTUGAL
- Country: Portugal
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00163CUYWV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Borussia Dortmund have shown two faces this season, with their lacklustre domestic form in stark contrast to their scintillating European run, which they hope to extend against Benfica in the Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday (February 14).
With just two wins from their past seven Bundesliga games, Thomas Tuchel's team have long dropped out of the title race and Saturday's shock 2-1 loss to bottom side Darmstadt 98 left them 15 points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich.
But the Ruhr valley club have been sensational in the Champions League, thriving on the big stage and scoring a record 21 goals to top their group ahead of Real Madrid.
The 1997 European champions and finalists four years ago will be hoping they can replicate that form for their first leg in Lisbon.
"Hopefully the Borussia that played against Herta BSC and Leipzig (will turn up)," Tuchel said. "I think that we need a complete performance and to play with our hearts, with a lot of passion, and be compact and defend with a lot of solidarity. And we have to unite quickly, we have to pass cleanly and have a good structure in place on the pitch to dominate passages of play. We have to be wide awake as we won't have much time to tackle Benfica and they defend very tightly, there will be very few gaps and in these gaps of course there won't be much time. But I hope that tomorrow Benfica will have to tackle the toughest Dortmund that we can be."
There are few bigger football stages than Benfica's iconic Estadio da Luz but Tuchel's biggest concern remains Dortmund's backline which has proved shaky throughout the season.
Forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus have provided a constant stream of goals but keeping a clean sheet has proved far trickier.
Frailty at the back was evident again on Saturday when Darnstadt twice outsmarted defenders, leaving Dortmund to wonder how they lost the game.
Benfica's dress rehearsal was far more successful as the Portuguese look to reach the quarter-finals for the third time in the past six seasons.
They beat Arouca 3-0 on Friday to remain top of the Portuguese league, ahead of rivals Porto, and earn an extra day's rest over the Germans.
Greece international forward Kostas Mitroglou made it 12 goals in as many games while Andre Carrillo scored for the first time since August.
They will be without suspended Serbian Andrija Zivkovic when they host the Germans but, with four wins in the past five matches, they could not have wished for better form going into the game.
"My team will have to be, and will be ambitious, determined and have convictions, because this is the way that we have to play and believe in ourselves," said Benfica boss Rui Vitoria. "Naturally Dortmund play in a different championship, but they also have to be careful with a team like Benfica." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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