Bosz: Madrid not Champions League favourite

Borussia Dortmund boss Peter Bosz played down Real Madrid's tag as favourites for the Champions League title.

Published : Dec 07, 2017 12:03 IST

"After today's game, I don't know if it is possible to say that Real Madrid are the favourite to win the Champions League. They were not very strong tonight."
"After today's game, I don't know if it is possible to say that Real Madrid are the favourite to win the Champions League. They were not very strong tonight."
lightbox-info

"After today's game, I don't know if it is possible to say that Real Madrid are the favourite to win the Champions League. They were not very strong tonight."

Is Real Madrid the favourite to win the Champions League? Borussia Dortmund head coach Peter Bosz is unconvinced despite his side's 3-2 loss at the Santiago Bernabeu .

Dortmund fought back from 2-0 down to level the match against the two-time defending champions thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's quick-fire brace in Madrid on Wednesday.

However, the struggling German side – which was already out of contention for the last 16 – succumbed to a Lucas Vazquez strike with nine minutes remaining.

 

While Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane made five changes to his starting XI having already been assured of second place in Group H, under-fire Bosz played down their chances in the European competition.

"After today's game, I don't know if it is possible to say that Real Madrid are the favourite to win the Champions League," Bosz said during his news conference.

"They were not very strong tonight.

"Although, it is true that they rested many players and they are one of the favourites."

Dortmund will turn its attention to the Europa League after finishing third in the group, 11 points behind second-placed Madrid and 14 adrift of table-topper Tottenham.

"We wanted to continue in the Champions League," Bosz added. "Now we will put everything we have into the Europa League.

"When the injured players return we'll improve. We still have to improve our level of performance, today went very badly. We showed at times that we can play football very well."

Bosz did single out Aubameyang, who has long been linked with a move to Madrid, the Dutchman hopeful of keeping the Dortmund star.

"He isn't a player for Madrid... I'm joking of course," he said. "He has shown many times what a great player he is.

"He has speed and scores a lot of goals; I hope he will stay with us for many years."

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment