Champions League can get Dortmund back on track, says captain Can

Emre Can said that Borussia Dortmund will use their Champions League play-off first leg against Sporting CP on Tuesday to try and kickstart their underwhelming season.

Dortmund, who reached last year’s Champions League final, slipped to 11th in the Bundesliga on Saturday after a defeat to Stuttgart in Nico Kovac’s first game in charge.

They have won just one of their last six league matches but have fared better in Europe, finishing just outside the top eight by a point on the final day of the league phase.

And Dortmund will be confident of taking an early advantage in their clash with Sporting given their recent record against sides from Portugal in the Champions League.

Indeed, they have a better win rate against teams from Portugal (P14 W9 L5 – 64%) than against sides from any other nation they have faced more than 10 times in European competition.

“It is not easy (to turn things around),” Can told a press conference. “Not everything in the past weeks has been negative.

“We know it is about winning, but you have to try to stay positive. The negative will not take you further.

“The Champions League is also different to the Bundesliga. We had a good run last year. It is somewhere where we can be successful again.”

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Dortmund’s league struggles have put their participation in Europe’s elite competition at risk, but Can is confident his team can turn their fortunes around.

“No one believed it last season, and we reached the final,” Can said. “I don’t want to talk about the final, but we can try to be successful.”

Kovac will also take charge of his first Champions League clash since taking over at Dortmund.

He is unbeaten in each of his six Champions League away games (W4 D2 with Bayern Munich), the most matches a manager has taken charge of on the road in the competition without suffering defeat.

But if he is to continue his impressive form in the competition away from home, he will have to do so without Ramy Bensebaini, who picked up a muscle injury against Stuttgart.

“We are facing a tough team,” Kovac said. “To be first in Portugal is very difficult. That means the quality is very high.

“This is a football playing team. From the back to the front. This means for us we must be aware of the technical skills and focused over 90 minutes.

“This is the first part of two games. We want to get a good result to have a good opportunity to reach the next round.”