Borussia Dortmund hope to bring down the curtain on Juergen Klopp’s seven years as head coach by lifting the DFB Pokal on his swansong in today’s final against VfL Wolfsburg.
The 47-year-old announced last month that he would be leaving at the end of the season with Thomas Tuchel set to replace him as head coach next season by following the same path from FSV Mainz 05.
All that remains is the final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion as Dortmund hunt their fourth major trophy under Klopp after winning the 2010-2011 Bundeliga title and the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal double in 2011-2012.
Photo: AFP
Klopp has made it no secret that he wants one more open-top bus tour through Dortmund, just like in 2011 and 2012.
Wolfsburg have never won the DFB Pokal, but Dortmund need little extra motivation.
They want to win the cup for the fourth time in the club’s history to send Klopp off in style along with former Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl, who is set to retire after the game.
“The coach has always given everything for us, now we want to pay him back by lifting the trophy,” Germany defender Erik Durm said.
A victory in Berlin would also give Dortmund a direct UEFA Europa League place next season, but defeat means they would have to go through qualifying with archrivals Schalke 04, who finished sixth in the table, going straight through to the group stage.
“It’s not really about what Schalke are up to or if Wolfsburg should lose. We just want to make sure it is us who lift the cup,” Klopp said before his 318th and final Dortmund game in charge.
Having beaten holders Bayern Munich at the Allianz-Arena on penalties in the semi-finals, victory in Berlin would go a long way to making up for a poor season.
Klopp’s side started February bottom of the table and eventually ended up seventh in the Bundesliga, but it was a far cry from finishing second to Bayern for the previous two years.
After finishing second in the Bundesliga to qualify directly for the UEFA Champions League, Wolfsburg, who have had little short of a dream season, are not traveling to Berlin just to watch Klopp’s fairy-tale finish.
“This is an especially pressure situation for the Dortmund team,” said Wolfsburg sporting director Klaus Allofs, who won the cup as a player with three different clubs. “It’s going to be an attack-minded game.”
Wolfsburg drew first blood with a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the league 10 days ago, but Borussia will be strengthened by having Germany winger Marco Reus and captain Mats Hummels back from injury.
“Dortmund will be a bit stronger than they were last time,” said Allofs, who expects about 30,000 Wolfsburg fans to be at the sold-out 74,475-capacity stadium.
Australia goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak is set to play between the sticks for Dortmund ahead of Roman Weidenfeller, while Wolfsburg’s Ivan Perisic faces his former club.
“It doesn’t matter who is standing on the other side of the pitch, I just hope the trophy comes to Wolfsburg for the first time,” said the Croatia international, who played in Dortmund’s 5-2 win over Bayern Munich in the 2011-2012 final.
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