Dortmund coach Niko Kovac attends a press conference after the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg soccer match between FC Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund at Olimpic Lluis Companys. Federico Gambarini/dpa
Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac didn’t hide his disappointment and said his team deserved to lose to Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-finals clash on Wednesday.
Dortmund will have a mountain to climb in next week’s second leg after the were thrashed 4-0 by the Spanish side, with their former player Robert Lewandowski scoring two goals.
Advertisement
Advertisement
“We clearly and deservedly lost,” Kovac told broadcasters DAZN.
“We conceded a goal from a set-piece and three after a counter-attack. Three goals from counter-attack is definitely too many. We can lose balls, that’s part of it, but then we have to make the right decisions.
“There are the little things that are punished at this high level,” Kovac said.
Dortmund, last season’s runners-up and 1997 champions, lacked belief as Serhou Guirassy missed two good opportunities.
“We had two good situations in the first half with Serhou that we at least had to finish them off in such way that the ball was on target,” Kovac said.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel described the result as “very infuriating.”
“We gave too much away. It wasn’t necessary to concede four goals,” he told DAZN.
The Champions League is Dortmund’s last hope of silverware this season since they are out of the German Cup and in the Bundesliga they are eighth – five points from the Champions League qualification zone.
“We definitely need to play better football at this level. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to keep the ball. Barcelona were a different level,” midfielder Emre Can said.
Ahead of the return leg against Barcelona at home, Dortmund won’t have it easy as they travel to Munich to face Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
Bayern will also need to bounce back from a Champions League setback after they lost 2-1 to Inter Milan on Tuesday.
