Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Thursday, April 27, 2023
DORTMUND – Borussia Dortmund will be without defender Nico Schlotterbeck but they enter Friday’s derby match at Bochum with “a healthy dose of confidence” as Bundesliga leaders, coach Edin Terzic has said.
Dortmund regained the top spot from 10-time reigning champions Bayern Munich last weekend and are determined to keep it in the remaining five games to lift the trophy for the first time since 2012.
“We’re looking forward to it being down to the wire now. We want to show that we are ready to take the final steps and then celebrate together at the end,” Terzic said on Thursday.
He added that they are keeping their feet firmly on the ground going into the season home stretch where they need to end a run of five games without victory away from home to keep Bayern, who are one point back, at bay.
“We haven’t been able to win the last five away games. If we couldn’t win away from home, though, we wouldn’t be where we are now. We can and we have to pull it off in the last two away games to achieve our goals,” Terzic said.
Schlotterbeck aggravated a thigh muscle injury in Saturday’s 4-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt and is not fit to play in Bochum who won’t be a pushover as they need the points to stay in the top flight. Bochum gave Dortmund a hard time in the German Cup earlier in the year, with Dortmund edging through 2-1.
“It’s a Revierderby. We can remember the Pokal game in Bochum under floodlights, the atmosphere is heated. It will be a difficult task, but we’re going into the game with a healthy dose of confidence,” Terzic said.
“The most important step is always the next one. We are well prepared and the guys trained well during the week. We can improve our situation tomorrow, but that can only happen if we take three points.”
Victory Friday would see Dortmund go four points clear at least until Sunday when inconsistent Bayern host bottom club Hertha Berlin.
