Málaga and Dortmund expect open encounter
There was mutual praise between the coaches of Málaga CF and Borussia Dortmund ahead of their first leg, with Manuel Pellegrini predicting "a great game" at La Rosaleda.
The coaches of Málaga CF and Borussia Dortmund celebrated the achievements of their respective sides in reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals – and each believes Wednesday's meeting in Spain will be an entertaining encounter. While Manuel Pellegrini wants Málaga to keep their hopes alive for next week's return trip to Germany, Jürgen Klopp is urging his charges to seize "a great opportunity".
Málaga
Manuel Pellegrini, coach
Nobody gave us a chance at the start of this campaign, but the players have responded so well. We eliminated Porto and that represented a huge achievement for the side. Any plaudits this season have been won out on the pitch. Both teams like to have the ball and are very powerful. I am delighted to be playing Dortmund, as creative as they are. The fans will see a great game.
Dortmund have a great side – they are current Bundesliga champions and have five players who start for the German national team. They have huge potential, are very creative in midfield, but I think their main strength is in attack. We will try to minimise their strengths while playing to ours.
What I do know is that it is so important to get a good result to take into the away leg. This tie will be played over 180 minutes and the first 90 will be played at home, where we have to neutralise their game and try to impose ours. However, the outcome will most likely be decided in Dortmund.
Dortmund
Jürgen Klopp, coach
We have seen and analysed a lot of Málaga games. They've been doing really well and are an experienced team with strong defensive and offensive systems. The tie is open, it's a great opportunity, and we are happy to play Málaga.
We've played well in this season's Champions League and we want to produce more good performances. We can't say we will be disappointed if Málaga beat us – the name of the opposition doesn't matter, because Málaga are a very good side and Manuel Pellegrini is an excellent coach. We are concentrated on this game.
We don't think about how young Isco [20] and Mario Götze [20] are. Isco is an excellent player, and both are really very good. The teams also have other good players but not as young as those two.
Many teams have been eliminated, and Málaga and ourselves are still involved. There will be good games in these quarter-finals but I think this will be one of the best matches in the competition. The most important game of the season is this one. We want to reach the semi-finals, so let's see what happens.
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