Victory a must for Dortmund

By Manfred Christoph

Matthias Sammer believes that BV Borussia Dortmund's UEFA Champions League hopes hang on tonight's match against AJ Auxerre.

Must win
A strange assertion to make as we are only one Group A match into the competition but the German coach feels that only a win is good enough to keep his side in with a chance of progressing after last week's 2-0 defeat against Arsenal FC. "No doubt, when you lose the first game, as we did in London, that you simply have to win the next one to stay in the competition," he said yesterday.

Rosicky returns
The German champions will be buoyed then by the return of their influential Czech Republic midfield player, Tomáš Rosický, to training and of their Brazilian striker Marcio Amoroso. Lars Ricken will also be in the squad after recovering from a hamstring injury. However, Sammer is either intentionally keeping his opponents in the dark or is still unsure of the fitness of key men. "There is no change to what I have been saying over the last few days," Sammer said. "I won't announce any decisions now." He then added: "Marcio Amoroso has now returned from Brazil and maybe Rosický will be able to play." All of which left everyone none the wiser.

No rush
Sammer did admit that he wouldn't be rushing his key players back into action after injury. "I won't pick players who haven't had any match practice just because of their status," he said. Dortmund won 1-0 against FC Hansa Rostock in the 1. Bundesliga at the weekend and Billy Reina, who was excellent, is expected to retain his place in attack alongside Ewerthon and Jan Koller which would leave Marcio Amoroso on the bench.

Chances can be made
Sammer has watched Auxerre's last two matches and thinks his team are well capable of scoring goals against them. "I watched the [PSV] Eindhoven game [a 0-0 draw on Matchday One] and I also watched them against [Olympique de] Marseille, a 0-0 draw as well," he said. "They have let their opponents create enough chances despite all the chances they set up for themselves. We just have to take advantage of those chances."

Riding high
Auxerre are riding high in France, they are second to OGC Nice on goal difference, and take on Dortmund high on confidence. "I’m very happy with the performance of some players who have not been playing regularly in the first team," said coach Guy Roux. "Everybody is surprised that we are joint leaders in the first division while playing the Champions League."

Just one win
Auxerre have registered only one win in five visits to Germany – a 2-1 victory against VfB Stuttgart in the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Apart from the probable absence of the injured striker Djibril Cissé, they will be at full strength against a Dortmund side eager to return to winning ways.