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Borussia Dortmund's coach Niko Kovac laughs during a press conference ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Chamopns lLeague soccer match against OSC Lille Bernd Thissen/dpa
Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac is also counting on a Champions League bounce in the Bundesliga.
Progression to the quarter-finals at the expense of Lille followed a 1-0 home defeat by Augsburg domestically. Now Kovac hopes the match-up at Champions League regulars RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Saturday will gee up his troops.
"They're already a Champions League team," Kovac told reporters on Friday, despite Leipzig's current crisis having dragged them down to sixth.
"They also have to perform. I hope that my team will take that as additional motivation to approach the game in the same way as we did in Lille."
On Wednesday, Dortmund came from behind to win 2-1 in Lille and went through 3-2 on aggregate. It was in stark contrast to their form in the Bundesliga, where the Black and Yellows sit 10th.
"All the things that characterized us in Lille - the willingness to run, the sense of togetherness - that's what I want to see now," Kovac demanded.
Leipzig lost seven games in this season's Champions League and now look like missing out on the competition for the first time in seven years. Former Dortmund coach Marco Rose is therefore under pressure in eastern Germany.
"Leipzig are certainly not where they want to be," added Kovac. "But I think Leipzig are still a very strong team. They didn't play during the week either. So the freshness is certainly there."
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