Bürki (r.) has kept three clean sheets against Bayern since joining Dortmund from Freiburg in the summer of 2015.
Bürki (r.) has kept three clean sheets against Bayern since joining Dortmund from Freiburg in the summer of 2015.

Roman Bürki: “Dortmund want to close gap on Bayern”

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After a successful Bundesliga World Tour in which they beat Urawa Red Diamonds and AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund are back in Europe plotting how to overthrow Bayern Munich – first in the DFL Supercup and then the Bundesliga season beyond.

bundesliga.com caught up with BVB shot-stopper Roman Bürki at the club’s training camp in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, to get his thoughts on new coach Peter Bosz, and what Die Schwarzgelben can do to end Bayern’s five-year grip on the title…

Watch: Highlights of Dortmund's impressive 3-1 win over Milan

Question: Roman Bürki, last season, Dortmund lost three major players [Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gündogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan]. This year the club have held the squad together and added some players. How important is that given the arrival of a new coach?

Roman Bürki: Simply playing in a new system makes it important that we’ve all stayed together. The new players have gelled with us straight away. This hasn’t been a problem at all. When a team has been together for some time it means you can freely exchange opinions too. This is very important.

Question: Bayern, meanwhile, lost two of their top performers in Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso. How close can Die Schwarzgelben run Bayern this season?

Bürki: I hope we can close the distance on them. We’ll have a good idea on 5 August when we play them in the Supercup. We want to be challenging them.

Watch: Bürki delighted at Dortmund's summer business

Question: Dortmund lacked some consistency last season. You lost to some teams in the lower half of the table and conceded some unnecessary goals. How can you improve upon this?

Bürki: We’re working hard to be more consistent. If we can avoid injury and every single player knows their role, then we’ll surely have more consistency in our game.

Question: You’re now in your third season at Dortmund, and you have looked more and more sure of your role in the team. Where do you want to improve?

Bürki: It was easy to come here at first. I wanted to come to Dortmund and show everyone what I could do. Often my job is to keep it simple, though. Sometimes I've lost concentration, but I’ve learned to be calmer since I got here. As a goalkeeper it helps to radiate calm to the whole team. Of course I’ll still sometimes take a risk. That’s what the coach wants. I’m looking forward to the new season.

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