Lehmann looking for redemption

BV Borussia Dortmund stand on the brink of a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup but the achievement has been somewhat overshadowed by the domestic suspension of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann following an incident in a 1. Bundesliga game at the weekend.

Four-match ban
Lehmann has been banned for four games and fined for deliberately kicking SC Freiburg player Soumaila Coulibaly in Dortmund’s 5-1 away victory last Sunday - an incident which went unseen by the referee.

Publicly criticised
The goalkeeper was publicly criticised for both that foul and his general disciplinary record by German Under-21 head coach Uli Stielike, who said that he "can’t be viewed as a model for our youth". He has also been dropped from Rudi Völler’s squad for Germany's friendly against the United States on Wednesday.

'Only half-time'
As for tonight’s game, Dortmund will need Lehmann's experience with the tie on a knife edge after a goalless first leg. FC Slovan Liberec managed to win away to RCD Mallorca earlier in the competition, but that was after taking victory in the first leg. Head coach Ladislav Skorpil maintains that it is "only half-time" in the tie and points out that a 1-1 draw would be enough to see the Czech Republic underdogs through.

Room for improvement
But Dortmund were good value for their draw at the Letná stadium in Prague last week and, judging by their performance at the weekend, they are in the sort of goalscoring form to hurt the Czech Republic side. Even so, midfield player Miroslav Stevic feels there is room for improvement. "We need to have a well-organised defence and we need to be more dangerous upfront than we were in the first leg," he said.

Reuter returns
Dortmund, who trail Bayer 04 Leverkusen by a single point in the Bundesliga, have captain Stefan Reuter and Brazilian Dede back from suspension, giving head coach Matthias Sammer virtually a full squad to choose from. German international Sebastian Kehl is the only first-choice player missing – he is ineligible having played for SC Freiburg earlier in the competition.

'Europe's big names'
Sammer is in no doubt about the importance of this game to the club. "We must make it back into Europe’s big names," he said. "But this means we will have to work hard and keep fighting as we did in the first leg, but we also need to improve our style of playing."

Slovan impressive
Win or lose it has been a tremendous tournament for Slovan, who have put themselves on the football map with victories over RCD Celta Vigo, Mallorca and Olympique Lyonnais. Indeed, had Jan Nezmar not missed a simple chance in Prague they would be well placed to add the name of Dortmund to their list of victims.

Czech duel
As it is, in Jirí Štajner they have a potential match-winner, but he could find himself upstaged tonight by another Czech Republic player who happens to play for the opposition, Tomašz Rošický. The baby-faced midfield player, a prodigious talent, was quietly efficient in the first leg. Tonight could see him make a rather bigger impact on the proceedings.