Dortmund ´fired up´ for Supercup

Borussia Dortmund head coach Jurgen Klopp says his team are “fired up” for Wednesday’s DFL-Supercup clash with Bayern Munich.

The fixture – traditionally between the respective winners of the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal – pits Dortmund against Bayern for the third season in a row after the latter won both competitions last season.

The sides have one win apiece from the past two years, and Klopp says Dortmund are eager to edge the best-of-three statistics.

“We are fired up for this match,” he said. “We play at home, we want to beat them and win the first trophy of the season.

“[It is] a match played at the highest level against one of the world’s best teams.

“It brings together two teams who have had to deal most with the aftermaths of the World Cup [due to players requiring extra time off after Germany’s triumph in Brazil], and who have had – and still have – a most complex pre-season.

“The team that wins has every reason to be happy; the team that loses doesn’t have to be distraught and tell themselves that it was just the Supercup. The others can add it to their collection.”

Holders Dortmund are set to be without Ilkay Gundogan, Nuri Sahin, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Marco Reus and Mats Hummels for the clash, while goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller is also a doubt.