At 3:00 a.m. Beijing time on June 2, Dortmund will play Real Madrid in the Champions League final. Hornets coach Terzic recently gave an interview on the club's official website to review Dortmund's participation in the 1997 and 2013 Champions League finals, express his respect for Real Madrid, and talk about how he prepared for the Champions League final.
Dortmund defeated Juventus 3-1 to win the Champions League final in 1996-97. In the 2012-13 season, under the leadership of Klopp, Dortmund reached the final, but failed to lift the Big Ear Cup after losing 1-2 to Bayern at Wembley Stadium.
Your memory of the 1997 Champions League final
I was 14 years old. Unfortunately, I didn't go to Munich to watch the match. I watched the game at the public viewing site in my hometown, and I watched more of it later. It was a special day for Dortmund as a whole. The next day, my brother and I went to the airport to meet the Dorte players.
Looking back at the Champions League final in 2013, what role did you play in Dortmund?
At that time, I was already an employee of Dortmund, with dual functions. I worked in the youth training department and the scouting department. I paid close attention to the Champions League matches that season. When preparing for the final, I also had one or two tasks. At that time, I edited many videos of our opponents to help our players prepare.
How do you prepare for the Champions League final?
Because the match will be held two weeks after the end of the Bundesliga, some things will be different. For us, the focus is on the game itself. Of course, emotional factors will also be involved, but we try to take a very objective method to prepare for the game.
Since entering the final, we have to ask ourselves a question every time we make a decision. How will this help us to maintain our best condition in the final on June 1? Then we try our best to make ourselves enter the final as before, which involves training and competition. In terms of organization, it's a little different, but we don't want to change the preparation method.
How do you see Dortmund's development this season?
After the first round of the Champions League group match, we experienced a disappointing match in Paris (Paris 2-0 Dortmund), and then only got a draw in the second round (Dortmund 0-0 AC Milan). However, in the third round, when we won our first victory in Newcastle, we noticed that our self-confidence was growing and felt that we still had a lot to do. Our Champions League season was far from over. After that, we played better, became stronger, played more smoothly, and then entered the Champions League knockout.
Of course, from the beginning to the present, this road has become more and more difficult to walk, but we are getting closer to the finish line. At that time, we wanted to go as far as possible. We have already done it. It is impossible to go further than the final. Now we want to take the last step.
What do you think of Real Madrid?
Real Madrid is a team that has won the Champions League for 14 times. Not long ago, it was the tenth championship. Now they have 14 Champions League trophies. However, we know that we are fully qualified for the Champions League final. We respect the fact that Real Madrid, an experienced and powerful team, is waiting for us, but we also know that in a game, everything is possible. This is our chance. In such a game, we can also defeat any opponent.
