The German coach looks at various individuals in the team, following the recent ‘Bundesliga’ match against Stuttgart, in which Marcel Schmelzer fractured his nasal septum: “Marcel’s nose is still very swollen, so we’ll have to wait and see how he recovers, however he may wish to play without his mask, even though he plays perfectly well with it on,” explains Klopp. There are also doubts as to whether Bender and Kevin will play, although the latter, “is doing much better.”
This quarter-final will be the first time Borussia Dortmund and Málaga CF have locked horns: “Málaga have worked tremendously hard and performed very well in this competition so far. They’re a strong, experienced team with a powerful defence, but I think the match is wide open to any team,” affirms Klopp, who doesn’t want his team to miss out on the Champions League semi-finals.
Klopp also refers to the two players from each team who have been awarded the Golden Boy trophy, as the best young players in Europe: “Age really is irrelevant, as both players have a lot of experience. I’ve seen Isco play many times and he’s really an excellent player. It’s not my place to say who is the better of the two, they’re both extremely talented and I’d like to congratulate them for playing in these teams.”
Borussia’s Brazilian-born player, Felipe Santa also analyses Málaga CF’s work: “Málaga are a great team, however so are we. It really is 50-50 as to which team will qualify to the semis, so we’ve got to focus on what we do best in the League and trust in the skill of our players,” concludes the defender.
