Mircea Lucescu: "Winner of this pair will play in Champions League final."

On March 04 in Dortmund, Shakhtar head coach answered the journalists' questions on the eve of the encounter with Borussia at the BVB Stadion Dortmund.

- Mister, you've watched the last games of Borussia in the Bundesliga. In your opinion, could the opponents play not to their full potential just to mislead you?

- I was personally present not at the German league game, but at their cup decider with Bayern. It was important to see Borussia opposing a very strong club, which Bayern are these days. There were two different halves. If before the break, the team from Dortmund had to play more defensively and on the counter, in the second half they opened up more and tried to attack to level the score. It was important to see exactly such a game between two virtually equal rivals, because in the rest of the Bundesliga fixtures, Borussia had a distinct advantage, attacking for 70 and even more percent of the time.

- Based on the two-legged tie strategy, tomorrow even a draw will be fine for Borussia. On the other hand, the team are used to staking on attack. For you, what course of the opposition’s action would be preferable: cautious and expectant or putting pressure from the very first minutes?

- Borussia will not change their game pattern. They will attack from the opening minutes, plus the audience will cheer them on.

- What is your opinion of Jürgen Klopp? Do you consider him one of the best coaches in Europe?

- He built a very good outfit who achieve victories, he also set up a spectacular team play, which is appreciated by fans. Klopp has managed to give football life to young players who have a great future. With him at the helm, Borussia won two Bundesliga titles against Bayern - it means a lot. So I can only give him a thumbs up. There was this moment: during the warm-up of both teams, Klopp in ordinary clothes took to the field and alternately watched his and our players. This suggests that he is very close to his charges, trying to give them all the little nuances. Young and very, very promising coach.

- Borussia has practically lost the league title and was knocked out of the German Cup. What will be the team’s motivation for the match?

- Naturally, Borussia players will be maximally motivated. We will see a very entertaining football. I am sure that the winner of this pairing will probably play in the Champions League final this year.