Tuchel expecting goal fest when Dortmund face Monaco

Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel is expecting goals galore when they battle free-scoring Monaco for a place in the Champions League semi-finals.

The Ligue 1 leaders, who progressed on away goals after an enthralling 6-6 aggregate draw with Manchester City in the last 16, travel to Signal Iduna Park for the quarter-final first leg next Tuesday.

Dortmund dispatched Benfica 4-1 over two legs to book their place in the last eight and Tuchel believes a meeting of two teams who have scored a combined total of 223 goals this season promises to be exciting.

“I don’t think you’ll find any team at this stage who don’t believe they can go all the way, but you’ve got to be realistic,” he told UEFA.com. “As unspectacular as it may sound, we can’t afford to have a single bad half; to get through, you need two top performances, and that means four top halves.

“I want everyone who comes to the stadium to enjoy watching us because we play attacking football and outscore our opponents. I think we are good at winning the ball back, good at playing at a high tempo, good at quick attacking interplay and we’re also a hard-working team. I’d also say we’ve got a strong team identity and spirit.

“Monaco are a bit like us: spectacular, attack-minded and strong, and their squad is a similar age to ours. They play at a very high tempo and, in addition to individual talent, they have a very strong team ethic. I think it’s safe to say we won’t have two 0-0 draws; both teams are too interested in scoring and pushing themselves to the limit.

“I’m very optimistic, but I always am. We feel well-prepared for every game and we are so strong and confident that we always believe we can win.

“Getting to the Champions League semi-finals would be amazing, but so is winning the derby against Schalke. Just being the coach and having people tell you you’re doing a good job at Dortmund is a dream come true.

“You have to take every challenge seriously. I don’t think: ‘Oh, on Saturday it’s the Bundesliga, but then on Tuesday it’s the Champions League, so we’ll take it easy and rest some players.’ You have to place the utmost significance on every game. That’s what it’s about now.”