Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 8y

Borussia Dortmund confident despite squad overhaul - Michael Zorc

Borussia Dortmund are confident about their preparation ahead of the new Bundesliga campaign, despite a run of four games without victory in preseason, including defeat in the German Super Cup against Bayern Munich.

The departures of Ilkay Gundogan, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mats Hummels to Manchester City, Manchester United and Bayern Munich forced Dortmund to overhaul their squad and eight new players have arrived.

And while sporting director Michael Zorc admits the club are not at the current level requited, he believes they will reach it in time for their opening Bundesliga fixture against Mainz on Aug. 27.

"We are certainly not yet on the level we want to be, but that's just normal. We've still got a week until the DFB-Pokal and two until the start of the Bundesliga season," Zorc told kicker.tv.

"Still, we are pleased with the level we've reached now. The first half versus Bayern was very good, and we would have deserved to take the lead, maybe even by a couple of goals."

Zorc added everyone at the club is thrilled about "the exciting project" Dortmund have created under Thomas Tuchel and attempted to play down pressure on the coach following an outlay of around €100 million on new arrivals.

"It would be presumptuous to expect this or demand this," Zorc said. "If you talk about our spending then you also have to talk about our income. We roughly got as much money as we invested. We just tried to compensate the departures."

Zorc added the "departures we had were not necessarily wanted by us, and we had to compensate it."

When asked about Borussia's goals, the sporting director said Dortmund want to try to "make the best out of our conditions" and "qualify for the Champions League again," to "reach the knockout stages" upon their return to Europe's biggest club competition and also reach a cup final for a fourth consecutive season.

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