Mourinho confident of Real lift

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho expects his side to turn around their 2-1 Champions League loss to Borussia Dortmund.

Jurgen Klopp’s men scored an entertaining 2-1 win over the Spanish champions in Germany on October 24 and will head to the Bernabeu on Tuesday atop Group D with seven points.

Robert Lewandowski and Marcel Schmelzer’s struck for Dortmund in the sides’ last meeting, either side of a stunning Cristiano Ronaldo equaliser, which left Mourinho’s side one point adrift of top spot in the group.

The Portuguese coach is confident, though, that his team can put in an improved performance when the two sides meet again on Tuesday.

“It’s a very hard group, (so) to get anywhere is good,” Mourinho said.

“Losing is bad and I think all the teams are at risk. Dortmund and us are better off than the other two teams (Manchester City and Ajax).

“But City may win more points in the second half of the group stage (fixtures) and rise (up the table).

“It is very entertaining because it is very complicated and all the teams are under pressure. Borussia are strong, but we are at home and we can do well.”

Mourinho also confirmed that Karim Benzema will not be fit to play in the match due to an adductor tear.

“Benzema is injured and (Raphael) Varane will start. I do not know how long (Benzema will take to recover) but he is out for tomorrow.

Klopp, meanwhile, reserved special praise for ex-Dortmund playmaker Mesut Ozil, labelling him Madrid’s primary threat.

Ozil has played in all three of Madrid’s Champions League games this season and will loom large again on Tuesday.

“For many years, you could see that Mesut Ozil was on the path to becoming a world-class player and he has been that for two or three years already,” Klopp said.

“He is a great player and a wonderful footballer. I can’t say a lot about the personality of Mesut Ozil because I have never worked with him, however he can’t be too bad a personality because he plays such good football.”

Despite winning just one of their group games in the competition last year and failing to qualify for the last 16, Dortmund have been as impressive as any side this season, defeating Real Madrid and outplaying Manchester City in a 1-1 draw in England.

“Real Madrid is a very different team to Manchester City,” he insisted.

“If you take a look at City’s team sheet then they are one of the best teams on the planet so for us it is not about comparisons.

“We believe that we need to have a different approach to different opposition, we need to prepare well defensively, we need to adapt to whatever opponent we are playing.”