Arizona Tribune - Terzic's Dortmund 'obliged' to hit back against Atletico

Dortmund trail 2-1 after last week's match in Madrid, where individual mistakes allowed Atletico to take a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes.

The German club fought back as Sebastien Haller scored to bridge the deficit, although the striker will miss Tuesday's clash with injury.

Terzic said Dortmund were "punished" by an "ice-cold" Atletico, but backed his team to turn the tables in front of their 81,500-seat Westfalenstadion crowd and the famous 'Yellow Wall'.

"When you go out onto the pitch in front of that stadium and start your warm-up, you are obliged to give everything and show your best," Terzic told reporters.

"It's unique. It's regularly sold out and it has helped us countless times over the years.

"Before we make a transfer we talk to them and try and show what it means to play for Borussia Dortmund in this stadium.

"We need a good result against Atletico and we're pretty sure our supporters want to make that happen and create a good atmosphere.

"So we want to pay them back."

- 'Atmosphere is hot' -

The 1997 winners are looking to return to the semi-finals for the first time since 2013 when the Jurgen Klopp-coached side went down 2-1 to arch rivals Bayern Munich in the final.

However, they have made a habit of blowing the big occasion on home turf in recent times.

Needing victory against lowly Mainz to guarantee the Bundesliga title in their final game of last season, Dortmund could only draw 2-2 at home, handing the title to Bayern.

Earlier this month, they held a day of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the stadium, only to lose 1-0 to third-placed Stuttgart.

Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt played down the idea Germany's largest football stadium could also intimidate the home team.

"If I could choose, I'd always choose the atmosphere against Stuttgart or Mainz. You can't complain about the atmosphere in Dortmund," he said.

"It's absolutely unique. As a player you never need to worry about the support of the fans."

Atletico midfielder Axel Witsel, who spent four years at Dortmund before moving to the Spanish capital in 2022, said he told his teammates to expect a similar feeling to Madrid's Metropolitano.

"It's similar to our stadium. The atmosphere is hot like it is at home. We know it won't be easy."

Witsel said Atletico would need to "match our intensity in the first leg if we want to succeed".

"The first 15 minutes will be decisive."

Atletico manager Diego Simeone said the occasion made his job easy.

"You don't need to say much to the players about the opportunity to be among the best four teams in Europe," said the Argentinian.

"The team is in good condition. We've grown together and have good experience from La Liga."

Much of the talk after the first leg was a sideline clash between Simeone and Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl, with the two coming face to face on the sideline after an injury to visiting captain Emre Can.

"Of course we could expect something like that tomorrow, but we shouldn't focus on that," said Brandt.

"We should stay calm, patient and more than anything else, focused. We need to beat Atletico that way, not verbally with fights along the sideline."

O.Gutierrez--AT