Hitzfeld: Dortmund has 'momentum' going into Der Klassiker

Ottmar Hitzfeld believes Borussia Dortmund's late win over Wolfsburg last weekend can give it an edge over Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Published : Apr 05, 2019 21:01 IST

Former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld believes Lucien Favre's men have crucial "momentum" going into this weekend's Klassiker.

Dortmund travels to Munich with a two-point advantage over its title rival after Bayern dropped points against Freiburg last time out.

With only six rounds of games remaining after Saturday's match at the Allianz Arena, a win would be a huge boost for either side.

Hitzfeld – who coached Dortmund between 1991 and 1997 before two spells in charge of Bayern – expects a fierce battle, but believes the current pacesetter has an advantage given the last-gasp nature of its win against Wolfsburg last weekend.

It appeared to be heading for a disappointing draw before two stoppage-time goals from Paco Alcacer handed it all three points.

"The momentum is in Dortmund's favour because they just had a sense of achievement in their last match," Hitzfeld told Omnisport .

"In the last few minutes they score two goals. This, of course, brings self-confidence and that brings a special mood. And you have seen that too. They even released pictures from the dressing room as the players celebrated. This is something really special.

"And Bayern suffered a setback in Freiburg, although in my view Bayern did not play badly. They were clearly superior and had many chances, but they did not score."

Bayern scraped past second-tier Heidenheim 5-4 in Wednesday's DFB-Pokal quarterfinal, albeit having played much of the game with 10 men, leading to coach Niko Kovac warning his players that they need to show defensive "discipline and responsibility" against Dortmund.

That is an assessment Hitzfeld agrees with and the 70-year-old believes Bayern could be in a for a difficult game if it does not tighten up at the back.

"The deciding factor will be for Bayern to get back their stability," he added.

"It will be a special challenge for Bayern’s defence. They need to perform as a team, not just the defence but also the midfield and the attack. All 11 players need to work well.

"They must try to keep the danger away from their goal and need to attack early so that Dortmund have trouble getting into their rhythm.

"Continuity and confidence are missing as they’re not used to being the ones chasing. That has left marks on them. You can tell as they find it difficult to have a relaxed approach to matches."

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