Michael Zorc: Bayern Munich game a must-win for Borussia Dortmund

Michael Zorc has said that Borussia Dortmund must win Tuesday’s crunch clash against Bayern Munich if they are to remain in the Bundesliga title race.

Borussia Dortmund are four points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga standings ahead of Tuesday’s massive six-pointer between the two sides. The Black and Yellows have won their last six Bundesliga matches, conceding just one goal in the process. While Bayern go into the game in excellent form, having won 12 of their last 13 matches.

Both teams have re-started the season with wins in their opening two matches. And the stakes could not be higher, as the Bundesliga’s top two face off at the Westfalenstadion.

With just six games to go after this, Tuesday’s Der Klassiker could play a big role in deciding who wins the Bundesliga title this season. For sporting director Michael Zorc, Borussia Dortmund’s task is simple, but it certainly won’t be easy to execute.

Speaking at Borussia Dortmund’s virtual pre-match press conference on Monday, Zorc said:

"“You don’t have to be a prophet to say that if we want to play for the title, we must win this. There are only six matches left after that. It’s simple, but it will be difficult to execute.“We need to believe in ourselves, we need to be confident. We need to cope with periods of Bayern dominance. They will have more of the ball. We must defend really well. We must be aware of our own qualities. We can always score goals against them and we can beat them.”"

Borussia Dortmund tasted an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Bayern in the reverse fixture back in November, but Lucien Favre spoke about how his team has improved since then.

"“We do not think back to that first game. We have forgotten it. We were bad on that day,” Favre said. “We now play a system that better fits our squad better. We have also brought in Emre Can and Erling Haaland as reinforcements in the winter who have further increased our quality.”"

Borussia Dortmund will be without key players Marco Reus and Dan Axel Zagadou for the Bayern game. But head coach Lucien Favre had good news about the status of Mats Hummels and Axel Witsel.

"“We will have to see at the last minute but I think it will be alright, 99% Mats will be there,” Favre said. “Axel trained yesterday with the team again and could be in the squad.”"

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich will be without influential midfielder Thiago Alcantara, as well as Philippe Coutinho, Niklas Süle and Corentin Tolisso for their trip to Dortmund. Jerome Boateng is expected to feature after overcoming a muscular problem.