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Following Borussia Dortmund’s narrow win over LOSC Lille last night, the Bundesliga giants booked their place in the Champions League quarterfinals, where they will take on Barcelona.
This promises to be an interesting affair, even though Barcelona got the better of Dortmund during the league phase.
Speaking after Dortmund’s win over LOSC Lille, the club’s head coach Niko Kovac offered his thoughts on facing Barcelona in the next round.
Dortmund coach on facing Barcelona
“In the quarter-finals, anything is possible and any team can reach the semi-finals, so we hope we are the ones who qualify,” Kovac said (h/t Mundo Deportivo) when asked about the next round fixture.
The Borussia Dortmund head coach went on to talk about his relationship with Hansi Flick, having worked together as both coaches and players.
Interestingly, Flick worked as an assistant of Niko Kovac during their time together at Bayern Munich, albeit for just 16 matches.
Flick worked with Kovac at Bayern Munich (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Talking about the reunion with Flick, Niko said “It’s nice because we worked together. He was my assistant, and now we’re competing against each other. It’s a great club, a special team, with amazing players. We’ll need to get a good result in the first match.“
Kovac even revealed that his connection with Flick isn’t just restricted to their past, as his brother even works for the Dortmund coach.
“Hansi Flick was with me when I was a player at Salzburg and then we worked together as coaches in Munich. Also, Tonita, his brother, works on my coaching staff. So, you could say it will be a bit of a ‘family reunion,’ but it certainly won’t be an easy outing,” he said.
Finally, Flick talked about whether or not there will be a ‘family gathering’ in the game against Barcelona.
“Yes, we will shake hands before and after the match, but during the match, we are opponents and each of us wants the best for his team,” he concluded.
