Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has played down his side’s chances of winning the UEFA Champions League despite progressing to the last eight with an “extraordinary” 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
The German champions, who topped a group including Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester City, have been hailed as a potential Champions League winner by rival coaches and pundits.
Dortmund’s supreme performance over Shakhtar, after first-half goals from Felipe Santana and Mario Gotze and a 59th minute sealer from Jakub Blaszczykowski, emphasised their quality.
“This game ranks very highly for us personally and it’s an extraordinary moment,” Klopp said. “The entire Champions League season has been running very smoothly for us.
“Shakhtar showed their quality in the second half but we delivered a fantastic performance for 80 minutes of this game.”
However, Klopp added: “We don’t have any influence on other people’s perception of whether or not we can reach the final. The other coaches have been quite clever in making us out to be the favourites.
“There are plenty of teams that have been eliminated despite having performed brilliantly before, and I can’t find any team that would be a dream draw for us. We are simply extremely happy about this victory and I’m very proud of my team.”