Dortmund were beaten 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final last week – but the winger is insistent the tie is still very much alive
Marco Reus insists Borussia Dortmund have not given up hope of pulling off a Champions League miracle against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Dortmund head into the second leg of their quarter-final with a 3-0 deficit, having been comprehensively beaten by Real at the Bernabeu.
However, BVB beat Madrid 4-1 at home 12 months ago in the first leg of a semi-final tie and gained a confidence boost with a 2-1 comeback win over Wolfsburg on Saturday.
And Reus, who scored the winning goal against Dieter Hecking’s men, still harbours ambitions of reaching the last four of Europe’s premier club competition.
“We have not given up,” Reus told Dortmund’s official website. “If we play like we did (against Wolfsburg) in the first half, then it becomes very difficult.
“If we play as well as we did in the second, it may even work out. It is damn hard, (but) we’ll give everything. In football, everything is possible.”
Ivica Olic gave Wolfsburg the lead at Signal Iduna Park, before Robert Lewandowski levelled for Dortmund six minutes into the second half.
Reus then capitalised on an error from Wolfsburg goalkeeper Max Grun, who fumbled a cross after clattering into defender Robin Knoche, to slot home the winner.
The former Borussia Monchengladbach man dismissed suggestions that he had intentionally handled when controlling the ball following Grun’s mistake.
“How am I able to move my hand away so fast? Even if I had not affected the ball with my hand, I would probably nevertheless have scored the goal,” Reus added.
“From there it – as I already said – was a perfectly good goal.”