Edin Terzic wants Borussia Dortmund to be hungrier than every other team

Edin Terzic is determined to ensure that Borussia Dortmund are hungrier and more hardworking than any other team in the Bundesliga.

Borussia Dortmund began their charge for the Bundesliga title with a narrow 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday evening. It wasn’t the most convincing of performances from the Black and Yellows, but they were able to see out the win despite not being at their best.

Borussia Dortmund made a strong start to the game and took the lead early on through Marco Reus. Leverkusen came out stronger in the second half and came close to scoring on a few occasions. But Edin Terzic’s side defended with great resolve and managed to keep a clean sheet in the end.

Terzic, who took charge of his first game as head coach in front of a sold out Signal Iduna Park on Saturday, hailed his side’s defensive performance after the game.

"“The way in which we defended our goal was a real positive for us,” Terzic told Sky. “Sometimes it’s not possible to score more than one goal – then you have to be able to keep the clean sheet and take the three points.”“In recent weeks, I’ve constantly been asked how we’re going to stop conceding goals. The most important thing is to defend your goal with everything you have. (Against Leverkusen) we showed that we can do that.”"

The BVB head coach is not thinking about his team’s title challenge just yet. But he wants his players to be hungrier and more hardworking than other teams in the league.

"“If at the end of the season a team finishes higher than us, then we have to and will accept that. But we cannot allow any team to be hungrier or more hardworking than us. We will remind the team of that in every training session.”"

Sporting director Sebastian Kehl was delighted with the intensity and fight the Borussia Dortmund players showed despite being put under the cosh by their opponents for long periods of the game.

"“We took a big step forward. We worked hard, fought, scratched, bit. If we hadn’t kept that intensity, we wouldn’t have won. It was a deserved victory in the end. We want to reignite the spark and have a special season.”"

The win over Bayer Leverkusen helped Borussia Dortmund become the first team in Bundesliga history to win their opening game in eight consecutive seasons. Another tough test awaits BVB next week as they make the trip to SC Freiburg.