Speaking at his press conference (via @bvbnewsblog) ahead of Borussia Dortmund’s second leg ttie against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Terzic gave his thoughts on the game and on Marco Reus’ lack of playing time recently.
On the tie, Terzic said: “They were very disciplinary last week and lurked and forced us to make mistakes. We took three things with us: The result, we have everything in our own hands. We know how difficult it is against Atletico when you do the things they like.” He added: “But we also know what it takes to invest in order to beat them. Atletico can dominate, play counter-attack and are very experienced in knockout matches. We had a lot of players on the pitch who were experiencing that for the first time. We want to do better tomorrow.”
Dortmund are currently 2-1 down on aggregate against in the tie against Atleti. Die Schwarzgelben are lucky the deficit is only one goal as in the first half of the game in Madrid last Wednesday, they were terrible. The introduction of Julian Brandt turned the game around and a late goal from Sebastien Haller gave Dortmund a lifeline.
Terzic also gave an update on injury personnel, confirming the earlier reported news surrounding Haller: “Haller has unfortunately injured his ankle again. We assume that he will definitely not be available for the next 2-3 weeks. We hope that Jamie will be able to join us on the pitch straight away. Jadon is fit again.”
Finally, Terzic also gave his view on the reason Reus has received a lack of playing time in recent weeks, with the game on Saturday seeing the 34-year-old sit on the bench for the whole game. When asked about the issue, Terzic said: “We had Jule in that position. The dynamics of the game brought other changes. That was tough for Marco, we also spoke to each other. He doesn’t have to accept my decisions, just respect them and can then show me that I was wrong.” For most of this season, it seems as if Terzic is trying to faze out Reus from the first team despite his strong performances, and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, it seems a club legend like Reus will just be easily discarded.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
