"Our chances of going through are minimal"

Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac acknowledged that his team made “too many mistakes” in the 4-0 drubbing against Barcelona, whose players, he said, took advantage of “their quality” to leave the quarter-final tie all but settled. “We are fair losers,” summed up the Croatian coach, who lamented the first set-piece goal he conceded and the facilities his players gave to Barca's second-half counter-attacks.

"What bothers me is that we invited the opponent to counter-attacks through ball losses. Three counterattacks are too many. The defeat is deserved, but we could have scored a goal," he said. In this sense, he regretted that his players "did not put up any resistance" to an opponent that "has tremendous quality".

"They have several world-class players. It is a difficult task to stop Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha. You can do it by defending together, but, without the necessary intensity, it is very difficult," he stressed. On his team's chances of a comeback next Tuesday in Dortmund, Kovac admitted that “the chances are minimal” even though he is always “optimistic.”

"You always have a spark of hope because, without it, there would be no point in playing," Kovac concluded.