Dortmund v Man City: We want to qualify for Europa League – Dzeko
Dortmund v Man City: Edin Dzeko wants the Citizens to continue their run in Europe by qualifying for the Europa League
Edin Dzeko has urged Manchester City to secure a place in the Europa League ahead of their final Champions League group game against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
City must beat Jürgen Klopp’s side and hope Ajax fail to beat Real Madrid in Spain’s capital if the Citizens want to finish in third and qualify for Europe’s second tier club competition.
Dzeko is expecting a tough test against the German champions, with City managing just one victory away from the Etihad Stadium since qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in 2011.
And the Bosnia-Herzegovina striker is desperate for the Premier League champions to continue their run in Europe and have a chance of winning the Europa League crown.
“We still have a chance to play in the Europa League,” said Dzeko. “We will do our best to try to win because only if we win we can continue in the Europa League.
“It won’t be easy and we have a few players missing but we will do our best because everything is possible in football.
“In the Champions League we didn’t play like we wanted, I think in the Premier League we are playing very good.
“We haven’t lost any games and I hope we will continue like that. If we can play in the Europa League that would be good for us.”
Pre-match facts: Borussia Dortmund v Manchester City
• Dortmund overcame Manchester United 2-0 on aggregate in the 1996-97 Champions League semi-final en route to winning the trophy. Lars Ricken, now head of the club’s youth department, got the only goal of the second leg at Old Trafford.
• With three wins and three draws, Dortmund have never lost at home to English visitors. Ivan Perišić preserved that unbeaten record with his 88th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the 2011-12 group stage.
• City lost 2-0 at Bayern München in last season’s Champions League, but did beat the Bavarian side 2-0 at home in their final group stage fixture.
• City’s record in Germany is W1 D0 L4. Their solitary success was a 2-0 victory at Schalke 04 in the 2008-09 Uefa Cup group stage, in which Joe Hart, Micah Richards and Vincent Kompany played.
