Hecking convinced Dortmund remain dangerous

Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking will ignore Borussia Dortmund’s poor position in the Bundesliga ahead of their clash on Wednesday.

Dortmund’s plight has been one of the shocks of the 2014-15 Bundesliga campaign so far with Jurgen Klopp’s men sitting 16th in the table, the relegation play-off spot.

The North Rhine-Westphalia-based club have finished in the top two for the previous four seasons in Germany’s top flight, including winning titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12, but have only managed four wins this term with two games before the winter break.

Despite that, Hecking will not take Klopp’s side lightly, claiming there are signs Dortmund are still the powerhouse from seasons past.

“What kind of game do I expect? I expect to play against a really strong opponent,” Wolfsburg’s coach said on Tuesday.

“Of course Borussia Dortmund is a team that has some problems at the moment.

“For me as a person who is quite far away from Dortmund it’s quite surprising that Dortmund didn’t get things going this season. Because of that I expect a game where Dortmund plays against an opponent that is known to be a good team and they have to give everything.

“In the past Dortmund played their best matches against strong teams, especially at home. For example the Bundesliga matches against Gladbach [Borussia Monchengladbach] or Hoffenheim and the matches in the [UEFA] Champions League.

“That is the standard I’m comparing Dortmund with.”

While the Bundesliga has been a tough place for Dortmund, they comfortably qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, topping Group D with four wins from six matches and a goal difference of plus 10.

Wolfsburg, who are second in the Bundesliga, are in the UEFA Europa League this season and also progressed, and they will line up against Sporting Lisbon in the next round.

Having seen how Sporting performed in the Champions League – they finished third in Group G behind Chelsea and Schalke – Hecking believes Wolfsburg have a chance of reaching the round of 16.

“I watched both of Sporting’s games against Schalke. Schalke won 4-3 in the first game and lost the second 4-2,” the 50-year-old said.

“When I compare my team to Schalke I think our level is quite good… we will have to concentrate hard to get to the next round but I really think we can do it.”