BERLIN – Borussia Dortmund kept a clean sheet in their
impressive 4-0 Bundesliga win against fancied Bayer Leverkusen, which
is good news for them ahead of Tuesday's Champions League opener
against Barcelona.
"It was a good dress rehearsal. Against Barca we will also be without
the ball for extended periods," midfielder Thomas Delaney said.
"It's important to keep a clean sheet. Ultimately, we win 99 per cent
of our home games when we keep a clean sheet."
Even always-cautious coach Lucien Favre said "it is always good to
win, also ahead of such a game," against the five-time European
champions Barca.
Dortmund got back on track in the league after a surprise 3-1 defeat
at promoted Union Berlin which had highlighted some weaknesses at the
back and up front as well.
Dortmund have immense quality up front with Spain's Pablo Alcacer,
who has scored all eight competitive match he has played in this
season for club and country, English teenager Jadon Sancho as well as
German internationals Marco Reus and Julian Brandt.
Mats Hummels has returned from champions Bayern Munich to bolster the
defence, and the Dane Delaney received plenty of praise for his role
as a holding midfielder against Leverkusen.
"Put in exaggerated terms, he was involved in 200 challenges and won
210 of them," sports director Michael Zorc said.
The right balance between solid defence and Dortmund's trademark fast
attacks is needed even more on Tuesday against Barca even though
Lionel Messi is likely not to feature for the Spanish champions.
Barca beat Valencia 5-2 on the weekend, with 16-year-old sensation
Ansu Fati scoring his first goal as a starter and setting up the
second.
The two sides have only met once before, with Barcelona winning the
1997 European Super Cup tie over two legs at the time 3-1, getting a
1-1 draw in Dortmund after winning the home leg 2-0.
The good news for Dortmund is that they should get some spaces
because Barca don't defend with 10 players. Dortmund have often
lacked ideas against such teams in the past.
Saturday's Bundesliga victory has fully restored morale in the German
camp as the loss in Berlin had already led to questions whether they
could really be a contender for the Bundesliga title and be a factor
in Europe as well.
"There was pressure, we needed a good result," Zorc said.
The captain Reus added: "I hope this game gives us a lot of
confidence. We didn't have that in the past weeks."