The Borussia Dortmund boss believes his team delivered a creditable performance against their Bundesliga rivals, claiming that he sees positive signs ahead of the DFB-Pokal final
Jurgen Klopp insisted he was encouraged by Borussia Dortmund’s 2-2 draw with Bayer Leverkusen, hoping that it showed they were ready for their DFB-Pokal final.
The two sides shared four first-half goals with Bayer twice taking the lead through Lars Bender and Gonzalo Castro only to see BVB equalise through Oliver Kirch and a Marco Reus penalty.
Speaking to journalists after the game, Klopp stressed that taking a point at the BayArena should be conisdered an achievement and hoped that similar performances would allow his team to gather enough momentum to overcome Bayern Munich in May’s DFB-Pokal in Berlin.
“A point in Leverkusen is for Borussia Dortmund still a success,” the 46-year-old told a press conference.
“And that will remain so for some time. We were full of enthusiasm and had the right mood for football. Unfortunately, we also had our opponents who were playing their hand.
“For us, it is important that we’ve had the first time in what feels like an eternity a full week of training in which we could also work on tactical things. That’s what we’ll use the last three weeks before the all-important game in Berlin for.
“If we play like in the first half in Leverkusen, we will win the rest of our games and can go into the finals with a broad chest.”
The draw on Saturday leaves Dortmund ten points ahead of Bayer and likely to secure second place – and Klopp singled out Marco Reus for particular praise in helping die Schwarzgelben to this point in the season.
“Marco is in very good shape and that helps us win games,” the former Mainz trainer continued.
“In addition to his great talent, he brings a willingness to work. Marco epitomises the way we play. He makes it fun to work with the ball and facilitates many things.”
The Borussians sit on 65 points from 32 games, 19 behind champions Bayern Munich whom they will face in the DFB-Pokal final on May 17.