FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v VfB Stuttgart - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - February 8, 2025 Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac reacts REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler/File Photo
DORTMUND, Germany (Reuters) - Borussia Dortmund's performances are not all negative despite two straight league losses, but the players must boost their confidence with wins, said coach Niko Kovac ahead of Wednesday's Champions League playoff second leg against Sporting.
Dortmund lost 2-0 to VfL Bochum on Saturday, their second defeat in a row in the league under Kovac that meant the Ruhr valley club dropped to 11th place, only days after last week's 3-0 first leg playoff win over Sporting in Lisbon.
"I am a football coach and it is not the end of this playoff, just the first half," Kovac told a press conference on Tuesday, ahead of second leg for a spot in the last 16.
"As coach you have to try to give the players that self-confidence.
"Through good training, good matches, through wins. As a coach I see the results but also the good things that we do. We have to multiply those in matches," he added.
"These players are players of high quality but at the moment the head is the key factor."
Kovac took over a few weeks ago to try to turn their season around but apart from their first leg win over Sporting, last season's Champions League finalists are at risk of missing out on the competition next season.
They are eight points behind fourth spot -- the last Champions League qualifying spot -- in the Bundesliga.
Some of the goals conceded in recent matches, including against Bochum, came down to individual errors that allowed opponents to score.
"Three times in the past matches we allowed our opponents to run alone towards goal. We have to minimise those things," Kovac said.
"It is about relaxing the head, resetting it," he added. "What helps is training, success in training and most of all wins.
"We are not stupid to say that this tie is done. We have to play as intense as we can. We can't say we play only with 50%, not in the Champions League."
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
