Dortmund playing a final against Kiel for Champions League spot, says Kovac
Borussia Dortmund's last game of the season against already-relegated Holstein Kiel on Saturday must be approached like a final if they are to claim a Champions League spot and will not be a walk in the park, coach Niko Kovac said on Thursday.
Winners of six of their last seven league matches, including last week's 4-2 victory at Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund have raced up from 11th to fifth and are on 54 points, one point behind Freiburg in fourth.
If Dortmund win their home game by three goals or more they are guaranteed a top-four finish irrespective of Freiburg's result against third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, who have 57 points and a better goal difference than Dortmund by three.
"It's a good feeling to be back in the mix but it is about taking that last step that can sometimes also be the toughest," Kovac, who took over in February, told a press conference.
"Finals are the games that we all want to be part of. In the last weeks we had many finals. We had to win those games. We won them and now we are in a position that we have things in our own hands. Before we depended on others."
The top four qualify for the lucrative Champions League group phase next season.
Failure by Dortmund, last season's finalists in the competition, to qualify would be a sporting and financial blow for the Ruhr valley club.
"I won't be looking at my cell phone (to check on the Freiburg game)," Kovac said, adding that he would also make no changes to his team's usual preparations.
"We have an important game, we know that. So we won't change big. I am a friend of keeping things as they are so everyone can build their own tension to deliver the performance we need on Saturday," he added.
"We want and must win the game to reach what we all dream of. But it will be extremely difficult," he said.
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