Real Madrid CF coach Jose Mourinho (l.) was in the stands at Fürth to check on upcoming UEFA Champions League semi-final opponents Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid CF coach Jose Mourinho (l.) was in the stands at Fürth to check on upcoming UEFA Champions League semi-final opponents Borussia Dortmund

Mourinho watches Dortmund flex muscles

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Fürth - Under the gaze of Real Madrid CF coach Jose Mourinho, Borussia Dortmund sent out a fresh warning to the Spanish heavyweights, should it be required, that their upcoming UEFA Champions League semi-final encounter is going to be an equally tough assignment for both parties.

Guest of honour

A 6-1 demolition of Greuther Fürth also further cemented Dortmund’s second place in a Bundesliga dominated by FC Bayern Munich, and it would have given the visiting Merengues boss - who left with Dortmund cruising at 5-0 - plenty to ponder.

“He didn’t get to see our weaknesses,” joked Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp, whose side conceded to the basement dwellers once Mourinho and his scouting entourage had already started out on the way back to the Spanish capital. “If he wanted to see whether Mario Götze could play wide on the left, he could have just called me,” added Klopp with a grin.

Alongside the latest evidence of Götze's versatility, Mourinho will doubtless have made a few notes on two-goal Ilkay Gündogan's credentials as an attacking midfielder. “Illy showed he can operate just as effectively in a more advanced role,” said Klopp, who now has a further option for the double-header against Real - even if that is not top of his agenda for the moment.

No secrets


“Today, I’m not interested in the Champions League at all,“ said the coach, preferring to focus on his side’s performance against seemingly relegation-bound Fürth, in match one after having definitively handed over the league title to FC Bayern. “We were enjoying our football and played an exceptional pressing game, which was the key to almost all our goals.”

That is something Mourinho will have duly noted, although it is hardly a secret anyway, as Sebastian Kehl noted. “I think this game was too easy for us,” the veteran captain said, “He won’t really have learnt anything new about us.” Nothing more than he knew already, for sure, after the two Champions League group stage fixtures which saw Dortmund take four points - and very nearly six - off their renowned Spanish counterparts.

Overwhelming


“You could see our opponents were overwhelmed by our style of play,” added Klopp, who chose not to return the favour and take in Real’s league tie with Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. “I’ve got work to do here,” he quipped, not long before Mourinho was touching down in Madrid at the end of his truncated away-day in Franconia.