Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has urged his side’s fans not to vent their frustration at today’s revelation that Mario Gotze will be joining Bayern Munich this summer and focus their efforts only on supporting the team during their Champions League semi-final clash with Real Madrid.
Klopp’s pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s first leg was dominated by talk about Gotze following this morning’s shock announcement the attacking midfielder would be joining new Bundesliga champions Bayern on July 1.
The news of the 20-year-old’s impending departure has been greeted by fierce criticism from Dortmund supporters, and the timing could hardly have been worse for the club ahead of the visit of Madrid to the Westfalenstadion.
All smiles: But Gotze (centre, training today) is leaving Borussia Dortmund this summer for rivals Bayern
Packing his bags: Gotze will be Pep Guardiola's first signing at Bayern, who triggered his release clause
Focus: Jurgen Klopp, watching training today, wants fans to get behind the team instead of booing Gotze
However, Klopp does not want the transfer bombshell to be an issue amongst the fans when Dortmund take the field tomorrow night - pointing out the team come before any individual.
He said: 'If anybody doesn’t manage to realise by tomorrow how much effort has gone into getting us to where we are, then maybe they should not bother turning up.
'It is now up to every single one of us to show that Borussia Dortmund comes first.
'If anybody cannot hide their disappointment, then it would be nice if they would pass their tickets onto somebody who can. This team deserves to be supported.
'Since this will be my last chance to appeal to our fans, I want to say once again: leave the negative thoughts at home, come here and give us everything you’ve got and let us beat Real Madrid.'
He added: 'This chance is too big for us to concern ourselves with any other issues. The Real game is far too important.'
Fighting fit: Dortmund's players trained today ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid
Eyes on the prize: Nuri Sahin juggles the ball in Dortmund training, having returned from Liverpool
Dortmund are in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 1998 and tomorrow’s clash has been presented as ‘The most spectacular home game in the history of Borussia Dortmund’ on the Bundesliga club’s website.
That semi-final 15 years ago saw Dortmund suffer a 2-0 aggregate defeat to Madrid, who would go on to replace the German side as European champions.
Dortmund have had the better of the Spanish giants so far in this year’s Champions League though, beating Jose Mourinho’s men 2-1 at home in the group stage and only being denied an identical scoreline at the Bernabeu by an 89th-minute Mesut Ozil equaliser for Madrid.
Best foot forward: Wednesday's clash has been hyped as the most important game in the club's history
Dortmund midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski hopes his side can emulate those performances once again tomorrow night.
'That (the home win) was a fantastic game,' said the Poland international. 'We then went to Madrid and played one of our greatest ever performances.
'We have a lot of respect for Real, but we have already shown what quality we have in the team and we want to show it again.
'What we have achieved so far is outstanding.
'We are undefeated and we hope to maintain that record right through to the end.'